Tuesday, December 2, 2014

early december stuff

December's here, people. Only 23 more days until Christmas. Haven't even started our shopping yet, so there's that.

I'm going to attempt another December Daily, a little scrapbook project that documents the month of December. I don't think I've actually finished any of them that I've started in years past, but what I do have done and documented, I love. You can see some of mine here. So I'm starting 2014 by including the following random bits of December.

Our new pastor asked Phil and I to help with the Advent candle on Sunday. Phil read the Scripture passage and I lit the purple candle. Growing up, Advent wasn't something that was really ever talked about in our church. It wasn't ever mentioned that I recall until the pastor got married and his wife got the church going with the Advent wreath. But, both churches that we've attended in our days of marital bliss incorporate Advent in the Sunday morning services leading up to Christmas. I like it. I like the reflection. The promise of hope that it brings. The sense of thoughtfulness that you feel across the congregation. I like that it includes the softer, more mellow carols like Come Thou Long Expected Jesus and O Come O Come Emmanuel.

I tend to get all stressed out in December. There's always so much to do right at the beginning with the women's ministry lunch, and then once that's over, I have to hurry up and get the house decorated in time for my cookie exchange, and then figure out what kind of cookies to make and then get them made, and then there's list making and shopping and trying to budget and figure out how to do all that. I hate that feeling. So this year I've decided to try to get my focus off the stress and remember what it's all about in the first place. I'm following along with a couple of daily Advent Scripture readings that I found on pinterest. I pull the verses up on Biblegateway.com and then read them in a couple of different versions. Here's one of the passages from this morning in Isaiah 9.

Needless to say, I had Handel's Messiah running through my head all day.

Today I was in the staff room eating lunch and I noticed these cute little Hershey's kisses. I tried one and fell in love. Guess what I bought at the grocery store? It makes me want to figure out how to make peppermint bark.
I also came home with some egg nog for Phil. First quart of the season. It's always a special day. Only I forgot that last year he started getting the non-dairy kind because of his issues with milk products. Sorry babe, it's the thought that counts, right??? And at least it's the low-fat kind. I should get some bonus points for that anyway.

Happy December! Now go make some memories.

1 comment:

bmarquez said...

I love the frequent blogs. Great stuff you're sharing. Keep it up.