I was completely mental about Advent until I had tea with a friend. I vented\u00a0 these Advent worries to her (leaving out the shanking- one does not discuss shanking fantasies to new friendsh until you\u2019ve reached coffee date fifteen- even then it gets a little iffy)\u00a0 and the truest confession I\u2019ve ever made spilled out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just afraid of missing Jesus this season.\u201d<\/em> <\/strong>She studied me for a Isn\u2019t that the point of this season?\u00a0 Jesus.\u00a0 Advent in all it\u2019s good and fun and meaningful expressions is really just a season of daily invitations from Jesus to access the hope, love, joy, and peace that can only be found in His story. Jesus is the embodiment of the love of God. He is <\/strong>healing for the sick, acceptance for the lonely, and laughter for the <\/strong>one who mourns. Jesus is wholeness for every single broken person on<\/strong> I forgot this and the crazy crept in.<\/p>\n When I got home, I sat with my to-do list of every single thing I\u00a0wanted to try this season- the wreath, the readings from various\u00a0devotional books, the following of Instagram feeds, the apps, the\u00a0podcasts, the super cute Advent paper chains. Everything. Then, I\u00a0asked myself, \u201cwhat can I actually do?\u201d \u201cWhat feels right and what is\u00a0a joyful acceptance of Jesus\u2019 invitation?\u201d Soon, this questioning And from deep within the well of my soul, I felt a phrase bubble up. A\u00a0mantra that makes its home in the sassiest place of my psyche. An\u00a0anthem that\u2019s both freeing and joyful every-time I say it\u2026<\/p>\n DO YOU, MAMA! DO YOU!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Because I can\u2019t say it any better, let\u2019s rely on Urban Yep, it\u2019s that simple. Do what you feel is best for you and your\u00a0family this Advent. I write this for me, for you, for the moms of the\u00a0littles, for the mama new to Advent, and to every woman who wants to\u00a0meet Jesus this season. Stop trying to do Ann, or Sarah, or\u00a0Jerusalem, or SheReads, or Nouwen, or Bonhoffer, or Margaret any one\u00a0else who is putting out GOOD, powerful important works this season and\u00a0do you! Take what they\u2019re offering and hold them in your hands with a\u00a0discerning scale. What can you actually do?<\/em><\/p>\n The only problem with my own advice is I\u2019m an ESFJ! I don\u2019t like\u00a0ambiguity. When someone says, \u201cdo you!\u201d I hear, \u201cdo nothing.\u201d I want\u00a0nice little categories to help me figure out what to do.<\/p>\n So here: let me give you two categories of Advent Good Words and Good Works.<\/p>\n I encourage you to try one from each category, but do it with a flexible attitude and a sense of humor. Trust me, y\u2019all, Jesus is still our King, he\u2019s still our Peace, and he still loves us something fierce- regardless of our Advent celebrating acumen.<\/strong><\/p>\n You can craft your Advent around readings, devotionals, books, and Advent and Christmas by Henri Nouwen<\/a>: Short daily readings with God is in the Manger: Reflection and Advent and Christmas by Deitrich<\/a> Sarah Bessey<\/a> has poignant words this season for us. If you\u2019re a blog I\u2019ve been listening to the Advent albums from \u201cFuture of Forestry\u201d and https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/user\/oshetamoore\/playlist\/68Mf5DTlffkLdWn0n2xVoX<\/p>\n This year, I bought these Advent Joy Cards from Persimmon Press.<\/a> I\u00a0stopped by their table at Allume and fell in love with them. They\u2019re\u00a0beautiful and on the back there\u2019s a little prompt based on the song, If you\u2019re a family of readers and want to incorporate some fiction in Maybe you want to do some type of daily advent activity with the \u00a0<\/p>\n Because this is a season where we celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, An easy starting point for a good work is to make an Advent Wreath.\u00a0I loved this Sorta Awesome podcast episode<\/a> with Jerusalem Greer on\u00a0Advent. She encourages us to start with what we have in our home to\u00a0fashion an Advent wreath. There are only a few must-haves: four (or I\u2019ve asked the other Awesome on the Sorta Awesome to share their wreaths because I want you to see how these women are being true to their circumstance and personalities to do Advent.<\/p>\n (Ours is the one in the middle with shells we collected on the beach on Thanksgiving.)<\/p>\n Glorious Diversity!!!!<\/p>\n Another good work, I\u2019m excited about when we put our tree up is a Here\u2019s a collection of Advent chains with daily readings on the back to help you plan this fun craft for the family. (click the image to get to the printables)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure Pintrest has some other ideas, but as we\u2019ve alreadydiscussed, I\u2019m not interested in completely losing my stuff thisseason- so crafts are off the beam for me<\/a>. Do you, Mama\u2026do you!<\/p>\n
\nmoment and sighed in agreement, \u201cyeah, me too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n this earth. That\u2019s what Advent is about.<\/strong> It\u2019s a holy pause from the \u201cshoulds\u201d of the season to see that we are beloved just as we are. And for all their Jesus-centricty, the \u201cshoulds\u201d also includes all the amazing Advent activities we can dream up.<\/p>\n
\nturned into a prayer, \u201cJesus, help me meet you this Advent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDictionary\u2019s wisdom for an accurate definition:<\/p>\n![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/screen-shot-2015-11-30-at-10-15-19-am.png\")
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\nactivities you can explore.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/image10.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nGood Words:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nsongs. My favorite books are:<\/p>\n
\nscriptures and action steps. This is probably more for your personal
\nAdvent study, but can be a good conversation starter at the table.<\/p>\n
\n Bonhoeffer:<\/a> I love his four themes of Advent: waiting, mystery,
\nredemption, and incarnation. Again, probably best for your personal
\nconnection to Jesus during advent, but there\u2019s some good, good
\ntheology to be found here.<\/p>\n
\nreader, then you might want to check her series out.<\/p>\n![\"Advent\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/advent.jpg\")
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\n\u201cThe Brilliance\u201d. Their arrangements of traditional advent songs are
\ngorgeous and I\u2019m a sucker for rock and classical mixed together. For
\nmy own personal Advent reflection, I\u2019m going to Future of Forestry\u2019s
\nconcert here in LA, later this month. Here\u2019s my Advent2015 Spotify playlist.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cJoy to the World.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Square_-_Joy_Card_1_1024x1024.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/square_-_joy_card_1_1024x1024.jpg\")
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\nyour advent reading, then I would suggest, Modern Mrs. Darcy\u2019s Advent<\/a>
\n Book idea.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"literary-advent-6\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/literary-advent-6.jpg\")
<\/p>\nGood Works:<\/h2>\n
\nfamily or for your community, like Jamielyn at, \u201cI Heart NapTime\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n![\"edit-text21-464x650\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/edit-text21-464x650.jpg\")
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\nGod made flesh, then it\u2019s important for my family to \u201cdo good\u201d, not\u00a0just talk about good during Advent. That\u2019s why we\u2019re preparing the\u00a0pancake delivery for families stuck at home on Christmas morning. This\u00a0will be the seventh year we\u2019ve reached and asked if we can deliver
\npancake mix and their favorite mix in on Christmas morning. We do
\nthis before the kids open their gifts as a reminder that it\u2019s better\u00a0to give than receive. All month long while we plan, I send the kids\u00a0little scrolls with Advent reminders of God\u2019s generosity and on
\nChristmas morning, the families on the list, have scavenger hunt clues\u00a0for the kids that make the giving a little bit fun. Now, this is my\u00a0Advent practice for the kids and I\u2019ll be writing through it this
\nmonth, but don\u2019t get overwhelmed- if this seems too much, then\u2026Do you,
\nMama\u2026Do, You!<\/p>\n![\"Carried](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/11\/photo22.jpg\")
\nfive) candles, some greenery or something alive, and word of
\nreflection. You can follow the lectionary or simply sing, \u201cSilent
\nNight\u201d as you light the candle. Easy, easy.<\/p>\n![\"tumblr_inline_ny3g1bdAsY1tpy7v1_400\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/tumblr_inline_ny3g1bdasy1tpy7v1_400.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDo an Advent Wreath, Mama, but Do You\u2026DO YOU!<\/h2>\n
\nchain of daily readings from the Jesus storybook Bible, some call this a, Hope Chain. We\u2019ll have the chain on the tree for decoration. Every night before bed, the kids will break a link and we\u2019ll do the reading. My daughter loves reading at bedtime so the agreement is she\u2019s taking the lead in this, because I can\u2019t manage another thing. Do you, Mama! Do you!<\/p>\n![\"25AdventActivities_Feature-650x650\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/25adventactivities_feature-650x650.jpg\")
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