Where is my Advent wreath this year? Still in the basement with the Christmas tree. I usually put up a smaller artificial one when we are traveling. A house guest said, “Why bother?” but I still intended to. When my family wasn’t interested in decorating it together, I reluctantly let go of the need to have one and just decorated the mantle.
When the first week of Advent came so quickly and they lit the candle at church, I was irritated that I had already missed the start of observing Advent at home. I thought about trying to catch up as I have done many years in the past, but this would mean trying to find the wreath among all the decorations. I realized this would only add to the great amount of stress, I already was feeling this year. And the candles in my homemade wreath are always falling over. They are different heights from having been used in the past and I didn’t have time to locate new ones. It is a challenge to get the family together to do the reading. As hard as I try, I can’t make it perfect.
I will never make Christmas perfect because life is so messy. I run around filled with anxiety forgetting about Jesus whose birth we are celebrating. But God is faithful and keeps working to help me let go a little more each year. The wreath and the tree remain in the basement but, thanks to His goodness, Advent is shining brightly in my heart.
REALationships 