Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”) is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus; in other words, the period immediately before Christmas.

Since Advent begins tomorrow, I’m preparing for it this weekend. Some of my favorite Advent activities include:

• Making an Advent wreath and lighting it throughout the season (we’re doing this tomorrow after the church service).
• Listening to Christmas music from the church (current favorite: Christmas with the Tallis Scholars)
• Watching the old Disney cartoon, The Small One.  I watched this as a child, and now as an adult it makes me cry!

This year I am also going to make an effort to work through an Advent specific devotional.  I’ve done this in the past, but I’d love to get back into the habit.  I’ve chosen Love Came Down: Anglican Readings for Advent and Christmas for this year’s readings!  What are some Advent traditions that you honor every year?

For more Advent celebrations, check out the Third Annual Advent Carnival!

The fall leaves always remind me of change; how each year we cast off the old foliage, start over, and allow for new growth.  In church this morning we talked about how today is the last Sunday in the church year.  It’s easy to become stagnant in our lives, and I’m hoping this year to really take the challenge personally to focus on new growth and development.

Plus, the combination of a really fall day and the thought that Advent starts next week has gotten me super excited for Christmas!

Image via Flickr by DGMiller777

The thought for this new design came from the practice that churches have of changing their altar hangings, robes, etc. with the changing church seasons.  I thought “wouldn’t it be really cool if my blog could do that?”  Then I found this neat plugin by Scott Lenger called Liturgical Year Themes.  I knew that I wanted Leanne to do the re-design (both because she does beautiful work and because she did my original design), and she was adventurous enough to give it a try using this plugin.  I think it turned out pretty snazzy!

I’m totally going to steal the screenshot Leanne has up on her blog so that you can see a little preview of what is to come throughout the year:

Thank you so much Leanne for all your hard work and for allowing me to change my mind several times!  I am thrilled with the way that things turned out, and I can’t wait to change seasons!!

This post is being re-posted on 7/7/09 – I had a backup malfunction and lost 3 months of posts, and so I am re-posting them through my findings with Google Cache. I did NOT delete the comments, I just have no way of restoring them. I am sorry if you commented and it is lost!

This post is being re-posted on 7/7/09 – I had a backup malfunction and lost 3 months of posts, and so I am re-posting them through my findings with Google Cache. I did NOT delete the comments, I just have no way of restoring them. I am sorry if you commented and it is lost!

Yup, Lent is coming soon!  Ash Wednesday is in tomorrow and is the first day of Lent.  I think I know what I’m giving up this year, and it was partially informed by a great post that I read over at ThinkChristian.  Here’s a small excerpt:

Lent begins in just two weeks, and I’ve always found it beyond coincidental that just as the receding snow reveals the unappealing garbage underneath, the spiritual disciplines of denial associated with Lent do the same for one’s soul.

Giving up certain things—like sex, certain foods, alcohol, caffeine—often reveals all too clearly our reliance on those things.  I know of people who have worked to give up coffee for Lent, others who have set aside all sweets, still others who have relinquished alcohol.  None of these people were addicts (except maybe the coffee lover), but all of them struggled to give up their chosen item.  Once they made the choice to renounce it, the hold the item had became that much stronger.  But moving into surrender, they realized how bound they were.  Naming their temptation was like holding a hair dry to a snow drift: suddenly the thing that seemed so unremarkable became very ugly.

But that is exactly the point.  We are not asked during Lent to give up things that are easy to give up.  We are not asked to set aside chocolate if we never eat it or coffee if we never drink it.  We are called to give up those things that tempt us to rely on them and not on Christ.  We are called to set aside those behaviors that move us into sin (whether that be idolatry or sloth or pride or lust or…), and replace them with behaviors that move us closer to Christ.

I’ve always tried to pick something to give up for Lent that would be a challenge – past things have included pasta, caffiene, potatoes, and cheese (they may not sound like that big of a deal, but trust me, they were . . . especially cheese).  I’ll discuss this year’s choice tomorrow, but I’m curious to know what others are giving up for Lent (or are you not participating?) – please share in the comments!