Advent Simplicity: a few thoughts, and a plan
When my children are grown and reminisce about their childhood experiences of Advent, I hope they remember peace. I hope their souls are all filled to overflowing with quiet.
I hope that when the calendar flips to December and the rest of the world spins up into a frenetic pace of panic, their souls transtion into a state of being rather than a cacophony of doing.
I want them to remember cozy fires and twinkling lights, warm cocoa and nourishing stories.
Above all, I want them to remember an overarching sense of calm. Advent is a time of waiting, of sweet anticipation- we know Who is coming! Our time of preparation ought to be so tightly bound up with peace and contentment that it cannot be untangled, no matter how hard the world tries to do just that.
We Were Made for This
When my kids are all living out their grown-up lives, I hope that Advent calls them to worship. To seek Bethlehem. I hope they feel it so deep within their bones that they fall to their knees to wait on the Holy Child.
People look East and sing today. Love, the Lord, is on the way! We were made for this. To wait on Him. To hope. To expect.
It seems to me that we have this paradoxical tendency to spin ourselves up into a frantic panic over holy seasons.
In our sincere desire to capture the best that Advent has to offer, we forget that the essence we seek is actually dependent on silence, simplicity of heart, and restful spirits. Really, how many of us would call Advent a restful time of year?
But… shouldn’t we?
I’m not really interested in concocting complicated plans or extravagant celebrations.
No, I’m interested in finding a way to look East with my family, and that just looks a lot slower and simpler than the rest of the world looks this time of year.
There will be storybooks. And a few rituals tied to feast days, naturally. But I hope to remember that the rituals are not the goal.
The rituals, formative and poetic as they are, are a means to an end. Beautiful, soul-nourishing, life-shaping means to a higher end: waiting on Him.
Our plans for a meaningful Advent:
- Memorize Luke 2. I got this idea from Mystie. We’re going to listen to the chapter every single day. Then we’ll do it next year, and the next. By the time my children are grown, I want them to have this chapter so ingrained into the fiber of their hearts that it hums in the background of their every thought all Advent long. Actually, I want that for me, so I’m going to give it to my kids, as well.
- Sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel while we light the candles on our Advent wreath. Keep the candles lit during dinner.
- Read Bartholomew’s Passage*. Last year we read Jotham’s Journey and it was a highlight. (And here I’ll give my standard Ytreeide disclaimer: the man is a master storyteller. His books are just so good, and I mean that in the fullest use of the adjective. They are also quite intense, so if you have particularly sensitive children, you may want to do a quick pre-read to see if they are a good fit for your children at whatever ages/developmental stages they are in.)
- Get to confession. There is no better way to greet the baby Jesus than with a heart that’s prepared to receive Him.
- The Jesse Tree: but I cannot for the life of me manage to gather everybody every single day to add the ornament and talk about it. Instead, we’ll put up all seven ornaments for the week each Sunday. Once a day is hard; once a week I can do. (click here to learn more about what the Jesse Tree)
- Pray the St. Andrew Christmas Novena and the Liturgy of the Hours (morning and evening prayer) as often as humanly possible.
And then there are all the normal things like chocolate calendars (yes, we like the chocolate ones) and singing at a nursing home and driving around to look at Christmas lights.
We’ll read our favorite picture books and sing carols and decorate our tree.
But the heart of Advent is about remembering that we were made for this- made to wait on the Lord, made to rest in His peace. Everything else is just gravy.
People look East and sing today. Love, the Lord, is on the way.
Let’s look East, then.
Portugal
Things that are right up very cool website! Dude. Wonderful. Wonderful. I most certainly will book mark your website along with consider the rss feeds in addition? I am thankful to search out numerous strategies here in a publish, we end up needing grow a lot more approaches with this respect, appreciate your spreading.
I have been a Jesse-Tree Failure my whole parenthood. IF we started the Jesse Tree……..it was haphazard and at the most for a week. My youngest is 12…….the rest almost 17 and up. I may just try one more time, giving myself a chance to succeed by doing it on Sundays with our evening Advent prayers. Thank you for the inspiration!
I love this. And I’m totally stealing the Luke 2 idea, if you please.
Last year our family had a really great Advent but *I* entered the Christmas season pretty worn out from all the behind the scenes stuff the moms get to do to make it all happen. I’m thinking we may have to simplify and quiet here as well.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder! With so much going on this year it’s easy for me to get lost in the craze, which means the boys probably do too. Your post made me stop and now I’m praying I have the grace to slow down and bring the peace and goodness to our little home no matter whether we are moving or staying where we are a bit longer!
I’m on the same page with you Sarah! It always seems to me to be upside down that we rush around like crazy making Advent activities when the whole point of Advent is quiet preparation. Thanks for your great encouragement and I hope you have a wonderful Advent!
I loved this, I pinned it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and taking the time to share your plan.
What beautiful plans, Sarah. I reeeeeally like both the Sunday Jesse Tree idea and the memorizing Luke 1. I’m definitely copying the latter. With the Jesse Tree we may just try to do it in the evenings and if we miss some, we’ll “catch up” on Sundays.
Inspired by this post this morning, i also decide we’re going to take a break from our regular Singapore Math and do Life of Fred for December. We already have the books, and I was wating until they finished the first half of the year, but it seems like Advent is the perfect time to take a break from “everyday” things and try something new.
Prayers for a peaceful Advent for your family.
I love this. Do you do liturgy of the hours as a family? I can never figure out how to do it with my kids.
Do you have a way to stream the Divine Office (divineoffice.org). I use the app on my ipod with headphones if I’m doing it alone, but if I’m praying while making breakfast or washing dishes or whatever, I put it on my iPad and just play it out loud. My kids will often wander in to listen and pray when I do that. But most of the time I just do it myself. I’m pretty sure Prim does it on her own now and again with her iPod, too.
I actually wrote a post titled advent simplicity and this came up in a search. Isn’t advent such a precious time?
Okay but the REALLY important question is this: Do you get one chocolate advent calendar for each kid? I think one would have to, right? I love those things, and I think I’m going to need to pick up a bunch so that everyone gets one piece of chocolate per day :)
Of course we do! :)
Haha, you’ve got to have a calendar for everyone. Or else there will be no peace for your Advent!
Sarah, your words are a calming force for me. I continually must re-focus on being instead of doing. Thanks for the reminder. We made Jesse Tree ornaments when my oldest child was 5. She is now 42. We made them from leftover felt in various colors with bits of bright ribbons glued on.The Jesse Tree ornaments (we still have them) are her favorites. When she comes “home” for Christmas, I put them all on a small lighted tree in the room she stays. The Memories you all are creating with your children now become cherished and last forever.
7 ornaments in one day for the week. Thank you for the permission to not be perfect. :)
I didn’t write it in my blog post, but we are going to read Jotham’s Journey this year. I happened upon it at the Goodwill in May. I love the idea of memorizing Luke 2 and doing 7 ornaments one day. I may just have to do that if we get behind on the Jesse Tree. Simple is good.
I love your plans, Sarah. I am always drawn to simple. I have a question regarding the Yreetide books, are they dependent on each other. I couldn’t get the Jotham book in time for advent but I was able to get the other two. Can I read any one or does it have to be Jotham? I only hear people talk about it so I wondered if it was a series.
I believe that Jotham, Bartholomew, and Tabitha are all the same storyline, but from three different viewpoints. The idea is to read one each year over a three-year cycle. I don’t know that it really matters which order you read them in, though. We haven’t read Bartholomew or Tabitha yet- the only Ytreeide books we’ve read (and loved!) are Jotham’s Journey and Amon’s Adventure (his Lent book).
“But I hope to remember that the rituals are not the goal. The rituals, formative and poetic as they are, are a means to an end.”
That’s good. Really good. And in need of much contemplation. I also love that you added confession to your list. Luke 2. Yes! Thank you for linking up. :-)
Great reminder. Rituals are not the goal.
What Christ-centered and cozy-centered ideas. Those are the two best parts of the Christmas season in my mind and I think your children will be blessed with these memories.
Beautifully said! Thanks for sharing. I shared this post on my blog.
Beautiful and thank you for the app link!
We have had a very stressful few weeks and I was thinking it might be time to step back and take an advent breather. Just focus on the fabulous feast days. But then I feel guilty… I am still ruminating about taking 6 weeks off and then picking up again in January.
Pleas don’t feel guilty! You will feel much more ready to tackle school in January
We try to do the jesse tree every day, but in practice we often end up doing two, three, four days in a row because….well, just because. That’s what happens. :) We did Jotham’s Journey last year as well, and I still need to order another book in the series. Guess I’d better get on that!
I love that idea of memorizing Luke 2! We may just do that as well!
7 ornaments on Sunday is soo practical!! Thank you, I try some years and do nothing, to do once a week is far more my style and to have a set day frees my from the feeling of failure. I love gentle Advents, which means I have one week to shop so I can sit back and relax. Was thinking whilst waiting for this babe I could turn that into part of Advent, waiting just like Our Blessed Mother.