Advent Season

My blogger idol/virtual friend/person I adore most who I’ve never met in real life, Brooke, made a commitment in November to blog everyday.  It was like a month long early Christmas gift to me from her.  I love reading her blog.  I love how honest she is and how funny she is and how she can put into words exactly how I feel about so many things.  Each day when her post showed up in my email, I felt like I was catching up with a friend.  I also felt a little jealous because she had time was making time in her day to write and I was not.  Yes, she has a full time job (as an English professor), a husband, two kids, and a dog. And, yes, she found time every day in November to write something down and share it with the masses.  I’ve been thinking if she can do it, I can do it, too.

One huge difference between Brooke and me is that she is not a Face.book user and I am.  That’s really the only major difference time wise I can come up with, although since I don’t know her personally, I’m just guessing here.  If I put down my freaking cell phone and pick up my laptop (and manage not to look at Face.book on it either) I can easily put enough time in my day to write.  And, let’s face it, I NEED to put the phone down and write, talk, exercise, DO SOMETHING other than staring at a phone screen.

Today is the first day of the advent season.  For some reason, this year more than any other year before, I want to celebrate each day that leads up to the Savior’s birth.  My in laws made us adorable advent “rolls” to open each day and I have committed to a scripture copying plan that will take me through Christmas.  I also purchased a digital download of an Advent Devotional (you can check it out here) that I’ll be going through this season.  I want to really focus on the reason for the season this year.  We have so much to be thankful for and sometimes-lots of times- the fact that a baby was born in a manger to save me from a punishment I deserved gets lost in the monotonous “thank you for this day” and “thank you for this baby” prayers. 

So, my goal for the Christmas season is to dwell on the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  My goal is to make more time to do things I love the are good for me like writing, reading my Bible, praying for others, and serving others for heaven’s sake. Next year at this time, Layla will be ready to start learning about the Jesus’ birth and I want to prime the pump this year to begin advent traditions with her.  Hopefully, there will be more to read from me in the next days and weeks as I try to put down the phone and pick up an old habit and remember what’s important is rarely read in a newsfeed.