Stop and Smell the Advent

December 15th.  Ten days until  Christmas. Our first out of town guests have arrived.  Actually, our first overseas guest would be more accurate. I’ve just pulled two huge roasters of nut and bolts out of the oven and spread the carmel corn out on cookie sheets.  This really IS Christmas.  Ten days until the big day.  I know I probably sound like a stuck record,  but is the big day really the BIG day?  Christmas is now.  I just read a short writing on Advent and what it means.  We are in advent.  It is a waiting period but it is a time unto itself.  It means ‘a coming into place’.   Christmas, to me, really is all about advent.  Life, for me, is all about advent.  A coming into place.  What exactly is it that I am waiting for?  That is the $64 question.
Very often we can turn our whole lives into a waiting period.  Waiting to live when I have a full bank account.  Waiting to enjoy that vacation or event when I lose 20 pounds.  Waiting for someone else to make a move so you can get on with life.  Waiting until your husband and kids finally ‘get it’ (or ‘get me’).  Waiting for the right job to come along. Waiting for someone to discover you and all your talents.  Waiting for life to take a turn for the better while I sit there and do nothing to help myself.  Waiting in line at the supermarket.  Waiting in a traffic jam.  Waiting until your paycheque is deposited.  Waiting for that perfect ‘one’.  Waiting for the rain to stop or the temperature to rise.  Waiting for the cookies to bake.  Waiting for a  toddler to catch up to you.  Waiting for that same toddler to grow up and fulfill all your hopes and dreams.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.
For the Christ follower, Advent signifies waiting for Christ to return, just as they were waiting for the Savior – a King,  all those years ago.  They didn’t even recognize him when he arrived and very often we don’t recognize the object of our waiting when it arrives either. Because it ends up not looking like what we thought it would.  And then we need to have a paradigm shift to embrace that thing. By a purely worldly definition, Advent is waiting for Christmas.   Waiting for the big day.  And I feel that the big day can be very anticlimactical and that is why I live Christmas all of December. Because most of the fun and the joy and the peace on earth, good will toward men happens before December 25th.  December 25th is just the day that most of surround ourselves in an embarrassment of riches and food and have a couple of huge messes to clean up later – the wrapping and the dishes…and that doesn’t thrill me at ALL.
So here we are on the cusp of Christmas Day.  I still have a million things to do to make the magic come to life before all the guests arrive.  And by guests, I mean family.  I have a large family and as many as possible, as many as it was practical and doable, are arriving in the next week to gather together to celebrate Christmas.  And it won’t be about gifts and getting – its going to be about gathering and loving.  Its going to be about reminiscing and reliving our childhoods (sorry millennials) but we old folks need to have our fun too.  Keep your ears open – you just may learn something valuable.
So as I am up to my earlobes in the doing, I am being mindful of what I expect and what my purpose is. I am taking time to enjoy the season and to let go of lofty expectations that just ruin everything for everybody.  In the middle of making waffles, with whip cream and fruit for our first overnight guests and seeing them out the door as they go to the mountains for a few days before the rest of the family arrive,  I decided to stop at Chapters with a Starbucks to take some time to breath before I went home to make peanut brittle, carmel corn, nuts and bolts, shortbreads and finish 3 more quilts and make a live square wreath for my front entrance.  Who needs sleep?
I am also trying to be mindful of why I am doing all these things, while at the same time remind myself that the minute it all becomes too much then that means I am doing too much. Its  so easy to keep inventing things to do and coming up with more and more ideas (at least it is for me) and keep adding things to my TODO list and totally miss out on all the fun of advent.  The waiting is over now.  Ready or not Christmas is upon us.  After talking about this event since January of this year (actually the idea was hatched Christmas Day last year right here in my own living room as I was skyping with other family members), it is here.  The first guests from New Zealand have arrived.  Tomorrow I go to deck out the guest house for the overflow and on it goes.  I will take time each day to have a quiet few moments (or an hour) and just breath and be mindful and grateful and keep things in perspective.
Its not to late for you.  There are still 10 days left.  Take a breather  each of the remaining 10 days and remind yourself why you are celebrating Christmas in the first place and what this season means to you.  How can you enjoy it?  What can you be grateful for?  How can you bless others? And what do you need to let go of.  Breathe.  Breathe deeply.  Light a candle.  Have a luxuriating bath.  Go to Starbucks with a friend.  Take an hour to sip your favorite beverage.  Look at some magazines.  Read a book.  Donate some time at Samaritans purse or the Mustard seed or make a donation.  Help someone less fortunate than yourself.  It puts things into perspective. Take a nap.  Yes,  in the craziness of all that needs to be done – take a nap.  Your loved ones will thank you for it.   Its free and one of the most decadent things you can do.  (maybe not if you are the husband and your wife is running around like a chicken with her head cut off – be discerning, after all.  You could get shot or strangled during your nap.  LOL).
And remember, we are all waiting for something.  Its not just you.  We are all in this together.
Peace on earth and good will toward men.