A Call to Advent

Christmas--it’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s also the busiest and most stressful time of the year.  As women, we often feel an enormous amount of pressure to make Christmas perfect for our family.  We have to buy the perfect gifts, decorate the perfect tree, send out the perfect Christmas cards with the perfect family photo, bake the perfect treats, and cook the perfect Christmas dinner. 

But the season of  Advent, which begins Sunday, December 2, is about slowing down to focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  It is a time to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a time of anticipation for the return of Christ as King. Our hearts should long for deliverance from the evils of this world, and hope that God, however distant He sometimes seems from this commercialized holiday, will bring about a renewed desire in our hearts to anticipate the second coming of the Messiah, who will bring peace and justice to earth someday.

What can this slow-down look like in our own lives? Women often get wrapped up in comparing ourselves to others, and worrying about projecting a perfect image to the world, at least I know I do. Stop comparing, and put everything into perspective this year.  Imagine what Christmas would be like if you cut back on the stress, only bake half as many cookies, only send cards to those you won’t spend time with at Christmas this year, donate money to a charity in lieu of gifts among friends or neighbors. Give gifts of “future fun” for friends or cousins--a zoo pass, or children’s museum or science center membership.  Find a way to focus on helping others.  Buy a gift for a child in Mexico or invite over a friend or neighbor who doesn’t have family nearby and include them in your celebration.  Donate your spare change to Young Lives and involve your entire family.  Teach your children to focus on the giving of gifts, rather than the getting from a young age.

It is important to establish these traditions with your children, but it is also important for us to reflect on advent as a time of waiting, and renewal in our own hearts.  We have celebrated Advent in my home since I can remember, from lighting the Advent wreath and singing Christmas carols around the tree. As far back as I can remember, my parents taught me to reflect upon the birth of our Savior and to eagerly anticipate his second coming as King.  It is my prayer that you all take a few moments to slow down this season of Advent and to give your children this greatest and most precious gift.  After all, isn’t that what Christmas is all about?