We welcome Advent with my lovely new wall-hanging decoration, made by someone who knew what they were doing, and purchased from the church fair for £5. My contribution to the fair was a bunch of fabric wallets with wobbly stitching and wonky corners which nobody bought. But, God made us all, and loves us for whoever we are, right?
The Christmas traditions have begun. The sourcing of the white tights for the Nativity costume, the fear that some vital event will be missed off the calendar and a Latte will shout and cry, the silent prayers during the Christingle service. (These are not traditional prayers, but the prayers of a mother who is watching a child with balance and co-ordination issues holding an orange with a lighted candle stuck in it. The kind of prayers that ask God for assurance that Lidl treat their children's ski jackets with fire retardant.)
So a quick wish for you all, to have a happy and peaceful Advent. Before it all goes up in smoke.
My two were up at the crack of dawn today to open their (non chocolate, very traditional) calendars. Anyone would think it was Christmas.
ReplyDeleteLoving that Christmas spirit ;)
ReplyDeleteTeenagers don't seem to care about Advent calenders anymore, so there is something to look forward to!
oh yes, 'the orange with the candle' scary service. You would have thought that by now they'd have made battery operated ones.
ReplyDelete(you heard it here first...)
I know that prayer - though in still very hazy on the whole Christingle thing - bit new fangled for me!
ReplyDeleteAnd a peaceful Advent season to you, too! I just laughed at your last paragraph about Christingle. There is absolutely no way for a mother to enjoy or get anything profound out of the Christmas Eve service, precisely because of the fire-wielding child(ren) at her side... said children are usually also squirmy and restless throughout the service... we get points for showing up, though, right??
ReplyDeleteNo. God loves only the crafty ones. She just shakes her head sadly and shrugs her shoulders regarding the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteAnd those of us who are recycling last year's Advent calendar because we were too disorganized to buy one in time for this year? And who have to use blue-tac to make the little doors close until their time? God has turned away from us entirely.
Which means I'm in deep yogurt when it comes to having someone to pray to on Christmas Eve when my own offspring are brandishing lighted cnadles...
Or candles. Take your pick.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. I suppose a good mother would have mailed advent calenders to her poor faraway children. I suppose I'm in the soup now too. (How can it possibly be december already?)
ReplyDeleteAh, memories of Christingle candles in a school hall with an ultra-sensitive smoke detector!
ReplyDeleteI hid my childrens advent calendars in the attic last week because the chocolate was talking to me. and forgot to get them out. I was NOT popular this morning. that heart is lovely, and I'm sure your crafting was too....
ReplyDeletePlanetcoops oh dear - that doesn't sound good...
ReplyDeleteunsuitableforadults that link is fab. One Christmas a few years ago Eldest was excited about fleece wipes for her baby doll. Now she wants a TV. Sigh.
My teo are so into advent, even more so than Christmas day, but then that might be their playmobil advent calender that I got in the sale last year!
ReplyDeleteA happy and peaceful advent to you too. Although we both know that advent is mostly about rushing around trying not to forget things. I can't imagine also needing to beworried about fire retardent jackets. Here's hoping it all goes well... for both of us!
ReplyDeleteI would've bought one of those wonky wallets, if only to help you feel better about your "talents."
ReplyDeleteI think God knows your true talent lies in expressing yourself through your writing. See? You are gifted. Just not in the crafty-sense. I'll bet the person who made that adorable heart you bought couldn't write a full sentence without some sort of grammatical/spelling error--much like me.
*Radical change of subject*
OMG. It's never going to stop snowing. I haven't left the village in two days. Send chocolate. Someone? Anyone?
Christingle. Christingle. It's a fairly new one on me. The word always makes me think of Chris Kringle: Richard Attenborough got up with a fake beard pretending to be the geezer with the red coat.
ReplyDeleteOranges? You were lucky. When we were little we used second hand mince pie cases. We were too small to have had the physics lessons about metals and their heat conducting ways.
I am in America and have completely failed to find a decent advent calendar. (The one I eventually bought is a cheesy Disney one, with no chocolate). However I was put to shame by a German friend who made a calendar consisting of a brown paper bag for each day, containing a gift, all threaded on a ribbon. A brilliant idea (although I know she was up till 2am making it....).
ReplyDelete