![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.toonesalive.com\/blog\/family\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/l_2592_1936_D573BD1B-C965-4D63-B46F-45A77EDB71EE.jpeg\" "\\"Nativity\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Today starts my favorite time of the year.\u00a0 Advent… the waiting, the anticipating, the looking forward to the coming King.\u00a0 I so appreciate growing up in the Lutheran church that celebrated the Sundays of Advent, and now celebrating it daily in the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas with our family is one of my favorite traditions.<\/p>\n
I always have high hope<\/em>s… to be organized and ready when this first Sunday of Advent arrives, to see my family quietly soaking up the Word in the candlelight, to not let this daily tradition get lost in the busyness of the Christmas rush, to let this be a jumpstart for our family devotional time.<\/p>\n And of course, this first Sunday of Advent begins like most, with me scrambling through the boxes in the basement looking for the Advent box. Surely I’ve kept the Advent wreath\/candles\/devotional in one WELL-MARKED box that’s easy to access, haven’t I?\u00a0 Every year after Christmas I promise I will… No luck tonight in finding it.<\/p>\n And the “real” Advent in the Toone home begins. Instead of our Advent wreath with 5 candles, I light candles around our Willow Tree nativity scene.\u00a0 We gather on the couch and talk about hope <\/em>(the theme for the first Sunday of Advent).\u00a0 Brian reads 1 Peter 1:3-5<\/a> about our blessed hope<\/em>, some of my favorite verses, and I hope<\/em> that my 6- and 4-year old will have a lightbulb moment and understand how hoping <\/em>in Christ is so much greater than hoping <\/em>in the world.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Analise wiggles and coughs, Josiah plays with sunglasses and can’t sit still next to Brian, and of course, at some point I speak sharply about all the annoying wiggles.\u00a0 *sigh… grace, grace… * We share what we hope <\/em>for, and after I share that I hope <\/em>we’ll all love Jesus more this Christmas, both kids hope <\/em>for something\u00a0 from Santa. *another sigh* No sacred quiet meditations and deep spiritual awakenings tonight.\u00a0 But this is Advent in real life, in my crazy wonderful family.<\/p>\n I hope <\/em>I’ll be able to find my Advent wreath.\u00a0 I hope <\/em>we might have some lightbulb moments this Advent as we remember this Christmas is NOT about us.\u00a0 I hope <\/em>that our family will be drawn to this quiet time looking towards our great and glorious Hope<\/em>. I hope<\/em> that we’ll put this family time first in the busyness, but I’ll also cloth myself in grace.\u00a0 And I hope<\/em> this Advent will turn our family hearts more towards Christ, not just this season, but every day.<\/p>\n