Advent Calendar Project

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I had hoped to get this posted much sooner, but somehow time got away from me. No worries, though - there is still plenty of time to put into practice what I'm about to share with you.


Last year about this time, I was feeling sort of 'blue' about Christmas coming; I didn't know why. Somehow the thought of the approaching holiday just didn't hold that much excitement for me. It always seemed to be about the same old stuff:: rushing around here and there to get all my shopping and wrapping done; trying to  schedule family get togethers; worrying about all the calories you are putting on and on and on the list could go. I know you all understand what I am talking about - It is called stress.

We live under so much stress that we miss the moments that are gone in a blink. I wasn't looking forward to another Christmas season like that again - all of the distractions and stress again. I wanted Christmas to be different that year. I wanted to truly understand more at the heart level the true meaning of the season, and I wanted to learn it as a family. I didn't know how that would look, or even what I was hoping for. All I knew was that I wanted us, as a family, to strive to keep our focus more on Jesus than ever before, instead of on all of the other stuff.

During the season of Advent, Christians across the world prepare for the celebration of the arrival of the Lord into the world through the birth of His son Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. What a wonderful word picture for this time of year - it's truly a time of Celebration.

A Celebration of Jesus coming into the world to save us: God's gift to all people.

Usually Advent is "celebrated" with the help of the infamous "Advent Calendars". You know the ones: where each day up until Christmas you open the little "compartment" and take out the piece of candy or chocolate. Or (like mine) you move the small wooden snowflake to the next pocket. It is a fun way to countdown until Christmas Day, especially for the kids.

So one day as I was reading on one of my favorite sites (www.incourage.com), I stumbled upon a blog post where the writer wrote about she and her family were doing a Advent Calendar Project. My curiosity was intrigued, not at all surprising with me. 

Their idea was to "add to" the usual calendar idea, but instead focus more on what we could do each day for Jesus up until His birthday to show our love for Him.    

Hmmm - I thought. Maybe this is just the thing to make our Christmas different this year!

I explained the idea to Mark and the kids; they were all on board and ready to go. We then typed up our ideas (borrowed some from the blog post or from googling "random acts of kindness"), printed and cut them out; then folded and tucked each little slip of paper into each "pocket". This could easily be done just writing them out on paper, too. Megan, our famous artist in the family, immediately went to work at creating the perfect calendar for our project:

I must say I was a bit nervous how this project would pan out. Would the first few days be exciting and then the whole notion fizzle away like so many other things we've tried (remember the chore charts?) Would the kids even "get" the message of what we were suppose to be learning? Would this just turn out to be more effort than it was worth?

Anyway, we went ahead with direction and excitement. It ended up being a lot of fun, and good family memories were made. In the end, I was actually quite surprised at how well our Advent Calendar Project turned out - How much we, ourselves, were blessed by simply giving to others.

I remember very clearly the day when we were about half way through the month when I had an "A-ha moment." Matthew texted me on the  way home from school: What is the plan for tonight? Intuitively, I knew what he was really asking, but I wanted to be sure so I asked him, "Do you mean what's for supper tonight? He texted back: No what are we going to do today for the calendar?

Wow! I was stunned! Speechless! Moved! This is a "teenager" I am talking about here. He actually cared and was into this whole thing! And if he was "into" it, then I'm sure Megan and Luke were too. I smiled to myself, and tucked that away for later.

Up until this time I wasn't sure any of it was making a dent with any one of them, except for maybe Mark or myself. After my "A-ha moment", it became a great joy for me to watch them do the assigned "task" for the day and to see the excitement and joy on their faces. They truly got the lesson that they needed to learn. Mark and I included.

We all learned through our Advent Calendar Project that when you give to someone in need; when you serve someone who needs help; when you do something for someone without expecting anything in return; or when you go out of your way to smile at a stranger - that when you do all of these random acts of kindness you really are showing Jesus' Love to others, and naturally, like a magnet, His Love comes back to you.

I finally understood that when you give to others, that you are also being blessed as well. You get that warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart and it just spills out and over. You feel happy, like you are walking on a cloud, just knowing you made someone smile, or lightened their load a bit. Or extended love.....probably to someone who truly needed it at just that perfect moment (because you know there is no such thing as luck or coincidences, right?)

Well, I got what I had hoped for last year: a different kind of Christmas: One that was the most significant and memorable Christmas seasons of my entire life so far! And I give all the credit to the path that led me to the Advent Calendar Project idea.

We will be doing our project again this year - starting tomorrow - December 1st already. We still need to get organized a bit. We are a little behind schedule since returning from our vacation. I guess we'll just have to do a few "double blessing" days.

Officially, I think this is now technically considered a Grade family Christmas tradition.

I encourage you to do the Advent Calendar Project with us this year if you can (literally or simply in your heart). Whether it is something you do alone, or as a family, with or without kids.....none of that matters. Just get creative! Ask the kids (if you have them) for ideas - you'd be surprised at what they come up with. And it doesn't have to cost a thing - that means FREE.

I welcome comments along the way, if you are doing the "project" or not. I'll be posting my stories along the way, but I still would love to hear yours!

Here are  ideas of some of the things we did last year to help get you started: shoveled snow for a neighbor for free; let someone skip ahead of us in a long line; made scarves for 2 nursing home residents; paid for the order behind us in a Starbuck's drive-thru; wrapped presents at the Rescue Mission; baked Jesus a birthday cake, read the Christmas story together as a family under candlelight.....just simple, fun ways to express love and kindness to others during this very special season of Celebration & Love.

I can’t wait to see what God does through us this Christmas season using the Advent Calendar Project idea again. I hope to read how this Christmas season was your different kind of Christmas, like it was for me last year.

Thanksgiving in Mexico

We spent Thanksgiving Day this year in Riviera Maya, Mexico. This will be a short post (is that even possible for me - lol) since I'm exhausted, and beyond overwhelmed with just laundry alone. Holy cow - traveling really wipes a person out, especially when traveling by plane. This was the kids "once in a lifetime" vacation of this magnitude so it was worth it! They know from now on our vacations will probably only extend within the boundaries of Wisconsin, as they always have in the past.

We rolled in last night at 10:00p.m, all immediately crashed without even unpacking. The first item on the to-do list this morning was to pick up our dog, Daisy May, from my in-laws. She definitely was kept in good hands and was shaking so bad from happiness and excitement upon our return that we thought she might pee her pants (oh sorry - I meant on their floor.) 

I wanted to share some thoughts with you I had one day while I was playing water volleyball in the resort's pool.

The game started, of course, with a few of the kids around Luke's age - just throwing around the ball, hitting it here and there. Sometimes over the net, but mostly not. Then some other older kids got interested and jumped in, including Matthew and Megan. Then a few dad's joined in with Mark. And then mom's (me, too!), teenagers, 20-something people.....and naturally 2 teams were made. Only a few really knew each other's names, I'm sure.

Before you knew it, a whole game of water volleyball was going on with people from all ages and nationalities; all walks of life, having a blast playing water volleyball: cheering each other on; encouraging the little ones with their serve (we actually let them go right up to the net); yelling: "Good job, Great try. That was a good one!", and just simply laughing and having fun.

I remember thinking how neat the whole thing was. How even my very reserved, shy Matthew jumped right in to play with kids he didn't even know! How when a person walked by, someone would ask him or her to join in: "Come on, join us" was called out. "Anyone want to play?", "We need another player". And the more people, the better. Skill didn't matter - not at all. We were just trying to fill up the whole pool.

We were just a group of people on vacation away from the daily stressors of life, simply enjoying time with our families/friends and each other. Nothing else mattered: not age, nationality, religion, political view, sex, social status, language, marital status. Nothing else mattered.

Imagine how our world would operate, or even in our own cities, neighborhoods, jobs, schools...... if this is how we related to each other. Hmmm.....just something to think about. At least it's something I think about :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was definitely memorable. Instead of the usual Thanksgiving foods we've always enjoyed in the past, Mark and I ate sushi, and the kids ordered in room service (probably mac n' cheese - ugh).

So here we are home, and back to reality. Christmas music is playing on the radio, and somehow we feel like we "skipped" Thanksgiving since we never got to eat turkey and pumpkin pie, or watch football!

Maybe for dinner some night next week if there are any turkeys left to buy. I'm not ready to shift into the Christmas "mode" until after I eat a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Until next time....

Giving Thanks

I must say that I am very disappointed in myself when I say that I haven't given Thanksgiving Day the honor it deserves.

Yes, we all know the history of why we celebrate Thanksgiving - the story of the Pilgrims and Indians that we are all so familiar with. But, in essence, when you study the true original history of Thanksgiving Day, you'd humbly realize, like I did, that in the 20th Century, we've gotten so far away from the original intent of what this day represented and what the Pilgrims and Indians were trying to teach us.

When the Pilgrims were in desperate need of rescue after many of their people died in the Winter of 1620, the Indians, very graciously, stepped up to the plate to help. They saw a need, and met it. They offered the Pilgrims land, food, training, friendship, and even - forgiveness. The following Fall at Harvest time, the Pilgrims were ecstatic about the amount of food they had grown! They knew that all the teaching and guiding that the Indians had provided for them had truly paid off. They were just overflowing with thankfulness and gratitude and joy.

Quite simply, they were so thankful to God for faithfully showing them the way, and providing for their every need, including peace among their neighbors. That He provided this new Joy of "family" and "togetherness."

And out of their thankfulness to God, and to the Indians, they wanted to share their wonderful bounty with their new family. They wanted to celebrate their blessings as 'one family' surrounded by Love. To celebrate together all that they were thankful for. The Indians and Pilgrims were trying to set an example for all the future generations of what a true "Thanksgiving Day" looked like. The purpose of it all......

The point is: it doesn't matter where you celebrate it or who brings what food, or even if you miss a football game. Or even about the parades, although those are fun to watch. And of course, the day after Thanksgiving does have some awesome sales! Anyway, try to stay focused on what truly matters. Ask yourself: Will this truly matter in 10 years from now, or 20?

What will be remembered is: was the day about Giving Thanks? Was it about reconnecting with your loved ones, was it about showing gratitude for all of the blessings in your life? Was it about catching up with loved ones, all awhile sharing home-made food together? (Food is our common ground, you know.)

So, can I encourage you as well as myself (trust me: I am always preaching to the choir), to keep our focus and hearts on truly what we are thankful for in our lives. However that looks for you : God, friendships, family, health, material blessings; maybe it'll come down to simply being thankful to be alive.

I think we owe the Pilgrims and Indians the honor they deserve as our very first Thanksgiving Day "role models" in how to be truly thankful, and how to share that Joy with others.
 
But this day of Thankfulness, shouldn't stop at the end of that day. It shouldn't stop when you go to sleep that night overstuffed with food, drowsy from eating turkey; and maybe even a smile on your face. The Pilgrims and Indians intended for this feeling of thankfulness and oneness with one another to last and last.

How would that day look different in your life, or in mine, if we changed our focus from what we've always thought about Thanksgiving and celebrated it with the Pilgrims and Indians in mind? To just get back to the true meaning of the holiday: Giving Thanks.

I heard someone say once, "If the only prayer you ever pray is: Thank You, Jesus, then that's enough." Hmm ... something to think about, especially during this Season of Thanksgiving we are currently in.

May you all have a very  blessed, joy-filled, memory making celebration with all your loved ones. May your heart smile with thankfulness, and may it overflow to others. May you learn to Be Still so you can enjoy each and every single moment. Life is about being present in the moment, which will be gone in the blink of an eye, and about making memories, isn't it? And that is what holidays are perfect for, especially Thanksgiving Day: Celebrating Life Together!

Happy Thanksgiving!