I love JoAnn Fabric, but yes, I did see the Christmas stuff going up in early October.  Who are these super organized people that are shopping for Christmas 3 months in advance?  It is surely not me they are trying to tempt.  I totally forgot to buy Halloween Candy this year.  Halloween snuck up on me, people.

I see a rising resentment about Thanksgiving not getting its props, not getting the attention it deserves. And I understand this feeling. But rather than jumping on that band wagon, I am going rogue on Thanksgiving this year.  And for once, it is not for lack of planning!

This year November is not just about Thanksgiving to me…because I am preparing for Advent. Yes, we will have turkey on the last Thursday of the month.  Yes, we are thankful.  Yes, we are patriotic Americans…we really are (surely being a military family gives us some cred?).

Still.  Thanksgiving is taking a backseat to Advent in our house because this year we are deliberately observing the church calendar.  We are paying particular attention to and celebrating the events in the life of Christ and in the Early Church.

Yes, I will bake pies on Wednesday, November 26.  We will eat Turkey and mashed potatoes on Turkey Day.  We will watch the Thanksgiving Day parade and football games and wish we hadn’t eaten so much.

And if you want to totally blow out Thanksgiving all month long, if you don’t observe Advent, that is perfectly alright too!  This liberty, or freedom to celebrate Advent (or not celebrate it), comes from living in relationship with Christ.  Celebrating Advent will not be done at out house to gain favor with God.  Christians already have His favor, not because of what we have done, but because of what has been done for us.

In Advent, we are just trying this new thing…going a little deeper than we have before.  We will HEAR (or read) what God’s Word says about preparing for Christ’s coming and we will be intentional daily to experience (or DO) the things that prepare our hearts to celebrate His arrival.   You know how important it is to hear and do!

This week, just before the last week in November, I am getting my supplies for my Advent centerpiece, with candles.  I am planning our scripture readings.  I am putting together a list of wonderful Advent resources for YOU.  And I am contemplating what it means to prepare your heart for the coming of Christ.

I guess I am a bit like JoAnn Fabric.  I am in pre-Advent mode rather than Thanksgiving mode.  The Church calendar is all new to me.  It’s not that I haven’t celebrated Advent at church before.  And Lent.  And Pentecost.  And more. I have just never taken the initiative to Walk Through the Christian Year for the sake of immersing myself in the Gospel Story.  Until this year.

I would love for you to join me on this journey!  Please subscribe my newsletter for Walking Through the Christian Year.  Subscribers will have exclusive access to a resource page that features:

• A printable for the nightly Advent Readings
• Links to websites that are sharing ideas and books about celebrating Advent
• Suggestions for the busy mommy, including an Advent devotional
• Fun ideas for celebrating with the kids
• Recipes
• Decorating ideas
• More!!!

I will be sharing these resources on the blog, throughout the month.  But if you want to stay a step ahead of the season and have access to everything in one place, even before it appears on the blog, you need to sign up for the newsletter now!

Tell me, do you follow the Church Calendar in your church?  In your house?

 

 

 

 

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