A Season Of Hope

It's been just over 5 weeks since my surgery, and I am amazed at how great I feel. My front and back incisions are healed, with only the minor annoyance of itching (a sign of further healing and nerves working), I have completed my second, and last, fill appointment in my expander (which will be replaced by an implant during the next surgery), and I only have one more appointment scheduled during the next month with the plastic surgeon to finalize details. I am back to lifting and hugging my kids. I actually stopped taking pain medication of any kind only a couple weeks after, and other than sometimes waking up a little stiff and sore, things are pretty much normal.  I still have to limit how much I can carry for longer distances, and my range-of-motion in my shoulder isn't completely back, but it is almost there.

I also think I am the most prepared that I have ever been for the Christmas Season. Many of the presents I need to get have already been ordered or purchased...or I at least know what I am getting. My house is all decorated, except for finishing the tree with the kids this week. I even have our Christmas cards ordered, printed, and done, and ready for some to be labelled and mailed out in the next couple of days. How did I get everything done with everything I was dealing with? I planned ahead...I knew I would need to eliminate some things in order to relieve stress and heal. I put my sign-making business on hold during the busiest time of the year. I said "no" to all craft sales this season, and while I will miss the extra income, it was the right decision. Our family needed to get back to some kind of 'normal', and I wanted to be able to spend quality time with my kids, which meant focusing on recovery over the past month. I'm still making a few signs here and there, but I am determined to allow this next month to be fun and memorable for all of my family.

The season of Advent - one of my favourite times of the year - is a time of preparation, of anticipation, and of hope. It's not about being stressed about perfect decorations, presents, and going into financial debt. It's about celebrating the Advent of Christ - waiting in anticipation to celebrate that He came to earth for us. 

One of my huge pet peeves about Christmas  commercialism and  marketing is that it's almost impossible to get an Advent calendar that is actually celebrating the Advent of the Messiah. You want a play-doh, Spiderman or Elsa Advent calendar? Those are all readily available at every store. Don't get me wrong, those are all good fun and I like chocolate as much as the next person, but I really wanted to be able to teach my kids about Advent in a way that their almost 2 and 4 year old minds could understand. So, after scouring Pinterest, I decided to make a nativity scene where we could add one piece each day during the days of December leading up to Christmas (next year, I will probably adapt it to take place right at the very beginning of Advent, which started yesterday). I don't sew...at all...so it needed to be something I could just cut and glue together. I found a great pattern here: http://cutesycrafts.com/2010/12/nativity-advent.html , and just skipped the stitching around the edges of the pieces of felt. I also used some sticky velcro pieces on the back of each item so it can stay on the felt board more easily. For the felt board, I found a used bulletin board at the Habitat Restore for $2, and I used spray adhesive to cover it in felt (I tried flannel at first, but felt sticks much better).

I then wanted to find some Advent readings/lessons for little kids, so we could read a story each day, put the piece on the flannel board, and pray a short prayer. It starts with an empty stable and it ends with baby Jesus...and I want the anticipation and excitement to build as they add each new piece. It took me a while, but I found someone who had written readings for very young kids and had them available on their blog. You can find it here: https://partofthemain.wordpress.com/advent-readings-2011/ I had to adapt it some for the pieces I had already made, and also because my kids are very young, but I think it will work great. It also would work well if you already have an existing nativity toy set. I did have to combine some of my felt pieces I had made, and make an extra one of a dove (not pictured - but I just copied a simple clip art shape) to add to it to make it work, but I am really happy with the finished product, and the fact that it only cost me $12 to make. Plus, I have enough felt to make 'felt stories' for the girls to put in their stocking (search it on Pinterest...they really are a lot of fun!) Avon has a great Advent stocking garland that I purchased to put each story in (each little stocking is numbered 1-24), mostly because I didn't really have time or energy to make my own calendar. You can find my Advent readings here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6zds0ybrc1vUlc5ZXdQZVJDdnc/view?usp=sharing

I am really looking forward to beginning the calendar tomorrow with the girls. I know there will be days where I am tired, or exhausted, and may not want to put energy in to focus on these kind of details, but it is important. It's important for me to find my own time to reflect in God's Word myself, too...teaching my kids by example.

Christmas always seems to take so much preparation, and then the celebrating seems to go by so fast. I know all too well that when you are faced with life-altering circumstances, what once seemed important to you pales in comparison to what really is. I have a lot of things I am anticipating in the next year - another surgery just a few months away, possible revision procedures, and the hope that the worst is behind me. Some of my dear friends are facing greater obstacles. Some of you are so stressed out this time of year, trying to keep up with everything, that you feel like you are drowning.

This year, I encourage you to slow down, prepare your hearts, anticipate with hope the coming of the Christ Child. Celebrate that He came, and anticipate with hope that He is coming again. As the Christmas carol 'Joy To The World' says - "Let every heart prepare Him room".

"I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning."

          Psalm 130:5-6

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!