{Pretty, Funny, Happy, Real}~ Living Advent at Our House (December 6, 2015)

Like Mother, Like Daughter has been talking Advent lately, so here is my humble contribution.

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Our Advent observations are pretty simple.  Neither my husband nor I grew up with Advent observations in the home.  Heck, my husband didn't even have much by way of Christmas celebrations growing up.  For the first two decades of our marriage, we wandered around broad evangelicalism, which looks askance at anything liturgical, except for Christmas and Easter (and some Calvinists don't even recognize Christmas).  For nearly the past decade we have been at home~ very much at home~ in confessional Lutheranism and have grown in our appreciation and love for the liturgy. Every year, I think, we do a little better job observing Advent.

Our Advent wreath~

You can't really see it, but it's on a cake stand, which makes it easy to move around.  I saved last year's candles and am using them again because I'm frugal like that, but I'm beginning to be afraid the shortest one will soon be too short!

                           

Besides Sunday morning divine service, we attend our church's mid-week Advent services, which is always a blessing.  I love the Advent hymns more every year.  I think my current favorite is "Of the Father's Love Begotten," followed by "Savior of the Nations, Come."

                                             

Our nativity scene is set up (without the baby Jesus) on the fireplace mantel, but I neglected to take any pictures of it.

Besides some extra charitable giving, that is the extent of our Advent observances. It is not always easy to change one's habits and thinking about Christmas and the entire month of December after decades of doing it the culture's way, which for it means the Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving and is over December 26. But these simple Advent practices have shaped our lives and thinking as we anticipate and prepare for Christmas and the birth of our Savior.