Advent

Advent - the season of anticipation for the coming for Christ!

Every year as we come to this special time, we try to really make this time special - and no this has nothing to do with post-Thanksgiving Christmas shopping or even getting out Christmas cards (yes, you can decipher that to mean that I haven't really finished any Christmas shopping and no cards have been sent out as yet!)

Our preparation this year, which to the detriment of shopping and card sending, has been satisfying. During the first Monday of December, Cornflower joined with her friends in Little Flowers and Blue Knights to:

1. Make sandwiches, wrap utensils packs, and bag beans to give to MUST ministries (which provides meals once a day every day of the year to people who are homeless or jobless with no where to go).
2. Make homemade Christmas cards for people at a local nursing home.
3. Make envelope packets of handmade cards of holiday cheer, best wishes, prayer offerings, and uplifting quotes (copied out of inspirational calendars) for Ms. O. a dear lady and friend from our church who recently underwent surgery for lung cancer and will undergo 16 weeks of chemotheraphy. On Tuesday, Cornflower and a few friends went to see Ms. O. to deliver the packets (one per week of chemo) and assure her of their prayers.

The children worked diligently, enthusiastically, and with great love on their service tasks. We were grateful for the opportunity to be able to help others.

Last week, Cornflower and I (with Little Sister in tow) went to find needed and just fun goodies to fill the stocking of a 5 year old girl and as presents for an 8 year old girl as identified needs on our church's giving tree. We had a good time making selections and wrapping the gifts which we dropped off at our church for distribution. As Cornflower knows well, I HATE shopping, but we agreed that it was made bearable when we shopped for others who needed things rather than just for fun and expected wants of the secularized season. Not that we don't enjoy the anticipation and surprises, but tempering the merchandizing with appreciation of what we have and not everyone else enjoys or can take for granted makes our Christmas more sweet.

Today, Friday, Dec. 15th, Cornflower and five of her friends visited a local nursing home to distribute Christmas cards, glitter-painted snowflake ornaments, Advent-purple rosaries, and their gift of song and prayer to residents there. As they took turns leading decades of the Joyful Mysteries, the children acted out (in costume) the mystery represented. We had Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, shepherds, one Wise Man, an Angel Gabriel, Simeon, teachers in the temple, and a Baby Jesus doll or two! A big thanks to our friend B. who organized the visit. We had a wonderful time and it was a great opportunity for the children to spend time being aware of and honoring of the older generation.