Those words - Thanksgiving and Advent

So, I confess that I shied away from the commitment of doing an "I'm thankful for..." post on my blog during November because I am self-conscious about my lack of consistency and just knew that if I didn't post every day I would heap amazing amounts of guilt upon myself. This is not because I think there are hundreds (or even tens) of people sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for my next post, but because I too often put unnecessary demands upon my time during especially busy seasons.

I did write a very detailed post just before Thanksgiving about how our family has been trying to live thanksgiving every day by focusing upon the gifts of the moment that God gives and how we can share His love with others. But after fighting with the new Blogger format and forgetting to save my post, I lost the entire thing when my Internet Browser decided to stop and restart for some unknown reason. So, for the vast audience ;) who reads this blog and who blogged Thanksgiving daily on your own blogs, I read your posts and am thankful for your faithfulness to share your gratitude in blog world. Forgive me for "skipping over" the Thanksgiving season on my blog--I certainly did not skip it in life, but blogging seems to be way down the list of important things for me these days.

Even as I type those words, I believe that an Advent blogging project is in order for me, if not for any of you who might be reading, as much for me to process and record what God is teaching me daily through this time of preparation and celebration for the coming of Christ. So, beginning tomorrow through December 25th I will share some of the new ways our family is learning to focus upon the gift of Christ and giving His love away, as well as ways that God is teaching me through our worship, fun, and giving.

More than anything, I want to be honest about the Christmas season-it is beautiful, joyful, and wondrous--but for those who have experienced great loss and grief, or who are very alone--it can be just. plain. hard. Even though beauty is found in brokenness, sometimes you have to travel through some ugly, dark places of sadness and grief before you see the beauty.  (Ann Voskamp's analogy of the bulb or seed being planted in the dark depths of the ground in winter and enduring all that entails only to spring to life as a beautiful flower or plant in spring is my favorite when it comes to these kind of experiences). Some of us will have fully joyous Christmases this year, some will have Christmases tinged with sadness from the past or present, and some of us will just wish for it to be over because we have not yet made it to spring--we are buried in our brokenness and the wounds are still raw. No matter where you are, Happy Christmas to each of you. My prayer is that if you decide to read any or all of my Advent posts, that they will bring you peace and hope in the amazing God who keeps His promises and makes us beautiful even as we are buried in our pain.

Loving, Learning, and Anticipating Christ's coming,