Advent...the waiting begins

It almost feels too early to put up anything Christmassy yet... but there's one thing that always goes up on the 1st December. I'm talking Advent calendars. There are two in the Squidge house, counting down to the 25th December.

One is a traditional card one with doors, stuck up in the hall. The idea is that the kids will remember to open the door when they pick up their rucsacs and head out to school. The other is a fabric hanging I made for J's first Christmas. The card one looks much better in the early days of Advent - as you open the doors, you destroy the big picture. The hand-stitched one has fabric pictures hung on button 'baubles' and always looks better as time goes by and it fills up. Mind you, all I can think of as that happens is how much I still have to do before the big day...accompanied by the cry of 'It's got to be done before Christmas!'

As a Christian, I try to take time to reflect on what this season means - waiting for the Christ Child to come again. It's a story that, for me, never gets old in the retelling - but modern life, media expectations, social pressure and - god forbid - sometimes an unexpected spanner in the works, do their best to cover the story in tinsel and turkey and worries. Consequently, I don't always manage to make time to reflect.

This year though, I need to pay Advent a bit more attention; we (my church) are sending an Advent Star around the Parish. And guess who's organised it? Uh-huh. Y'see, the three wise men originally went on a journey and followed the star, but this year, it's the star that's travelling, being passed between homes and community groups throughout December and ending up at church in time for Christmas Eve and our celebrations of Christmas.

Our star in its first home visit yesterday evening - 'cos remember,
the church's official Advent started yesterday.

To accompany our Advent Star, we're writing a special blog with starry-themed reflections and prayers for each day. If, like me, you struggle to make much time for thinking about Advent, but still fancy a daily snippet of Adventness, then why not follow the blog? You can find it here, at https://adventstar.wordpress.com.

Unlike the star or the wise men, you won't need to go anywhere - but you'll maybe be a few steps further on in your own Advent journey.