Christmas Blessings

Like last year, we are doing our "Blessing Box," which we will start on the first of December. We'll read our blessings on Christmas Eve, after we eat our dinner.


In addition to the blessing box, I am making my own list of blessings, and things I'm thankful for, in this pretty journal I found at Big Lots.


This picture isn't clear, but you may be able to tell that the inside pages are pretty, too. :)

High on my blessings list are my precious Campbell kids. Iain seems to have inherited his dad's ability to crack me up. We were playing a math Quizmo game, and the kids were getting mini marshmallows as treats. Iain rolled his on the dining room table and it picked up some random pencil lead flecks in the perfect place...

...and he said, "Look, it's Frosty, the Snowman..." We were all laughing our heads off.



For Christmas, we are doing a new thing this year by celebrating Advent. I've largely neglected this celebration, but had some fond memories come to mind after flipping through a new book that I bought last year, after reading my friend's blog.


When I was younger, we attended a church that would light Advent candles. I was thrilled with this, mostly because I knew that the final candle before Christmas meant that Christmas Eve was very near (which meant presents, of course!). But, as Lisa Whelchel explains in her book, that's okay. :)

I'm not going to kill myself trying to do all the activities, but I'm going to light the candles (I'm already behind, not realizing that Advent started with the last Sunday in November...yikes!). And, I plan to go over the explanations of Christmas traditions, which are listed here:


I'm feeling rather disgusted with the commercialism of Christmas, so I'm hoping and praying that this will restore my excitement for the holiday. I know that sounds horrible, but the whole thing just frustrates me...the gimme, gimme attitudes, police being called in to settle fights in stores on Black Friday (someone got shot at a Walmart in another state)...it's all nuts!

I want my kids to see Jesus in this holiday, to be thankful for what they have, and to reach out to others who are hurting. Turning the focus of all things Christmas toward Him is definitely a good way to begin.