One of the Christmas traditions that we enjoyed as a family growing up was celebrating
Advent. Many churches today have gone away from this celebration, but I still think that it is a wonderful way to prepare our hearts for Christmas.
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The word "Advent" is from the Latin word adventus, which means "coming" and refers to the coming of Jesus into our world. The celebration of Advent has been observed for a thousand years and includes the four Sundays preceding Christmas. The Advent wreath is symbolic with the evergreen branches, and each of the five candles.
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Whether you are following a guide which has Scripture and a devotional reading for each week in Advent or have another family tradition which emphasizes the preparation of our hearts for Christmas...I encourage you to keep reminding yourself, even in the many things that we spend our time on during the Christmas season (shopping, decorating, baking, socializing, writing Christmas cards, giving to a charity, gift wrapping, etc), to prepare your heart for the coming of the King as you are doing these things.
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It is so easy in our "drive-through" "instant" society to miss out on the joy of anticipatory waiting. Rather than waiting in anticipation we tend to make the Christmas season a month-long series of events, celebrations and duties. So, this year I am going to work on waiting in anticipation. (See more about "anticipatory waiting" on Mike's blog this "Theological Thursday.")
By the way, did you notice the background music? There were a couple additional songs that I wanted to add to my playlist but they were not available on the playlist.com website. One of those songs is "Christmas Offering." I just love that song. The words are changed from the original version of the song to be sung at Christmas-time...
Over the skies of Bethlehem appeared a star
While angels sang to lowly shepherds
Three Wiseman seeking truth they traveled from afar
Hoping to find the child from heaven
Falling on their knees they bow before the humble
Prince of Peace
We bring an offering of worship to our King
No one on earth deserves the praises that we sing
Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due
O Lord I bring an offering to you
The sun cannot compare to the glory of your love
There is no shadow in your presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It's only by Your blood
It's only through Your mercy
Lord, I come I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due
O Lord, I bring an offering to you
We bring an offering to you
We are an offering to you
We are an offering to you, Jesus
We are an offering of worship to our King
No one on earth deserves the praises that we sing
Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due
O Lord, we bring an offering to you
O Lord, we bring an offering to you
We bring an offering to you
We are an offering to you
We are an offering to you
You can listen to it from the
Casting Crowns "Peace on Earth" album on youtube
here.
What are you hoping to find this Christmas???
After Mike's magic show on Sunday afternoon on the way back to Ohio we stopped a
t Grove City College. The compromise was that we would watch the 1st half of the Steeler game in Ketler Rec and then go over to the Chapel for the Candlelight Christmas service. Unfortunately for Mike, the ending of the game was the best part.
Mike and I can now say that we've had a private investigator come to our house. It was a first for both of us, but it wasn't that bad. It was actually more informal than I had anticipated. They (he and his wife) asked a series of 14 questions...such as "Have you ever been married before?" and "Tell us about your growing up years." "What would your neighbors say about you?" "What is your highest level of education?"...questions like that. They took about 5 pictures of us and our apartment. And that was really it. It lasted about 45 minutes and we conversed with them about ourselves and they told us a little bit about themselves also in between the questions.
The reports indicate that flu season hasn't officially started yet, however, the common cold seems to be making its rounds. I managed to get by with only about 2 days of feeling really under-the-weather last week, with some help from extra vitamin C, ecchinacea, a day off work to get some rest and God's grace. So, I thought now would be a good time to share how easy and cheap it is to make homemade chicken noodle soup which by the way has been proven to be "good medicine" for the common cold.
Ingredients:
Chicken (I usually use leg quarters or thighs but a carcass would be good to use to)
Water
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Salt
Pepper
Seasonings (I use some parsley and McCormick Chicken & Fish Seasoning)
Noodles (I like to put in 1/2 regular Inn Maid medium and 1/2 whole wheat)
Boil chicken in pot full of water. (I leave the skin on but you could remove it before boiling the chicken.) Add seasonings, vegetables. When chicken is cooked through, remove and let cool enough to handle. Skin and debone the chicken, break into pieces and put the chicken back into the pot. Add noodles and cook until tender.
I don't have an exact recipe but you could find one in a cookbook or online if you want something more precise. If there is not enough liquid for the leftovers I add a box of chicken stock. Be aware that the chicken boullion (and powdered soup base probably too) contains MSG, so I stay away from those when I make my soup.
Enjoy and best wishes for a healthy winter!
One of the Christmas traditions that we enjoyed as a family growing up was celebrating Advent. Many churches today have gone away from this celebration, but I still think that it is a wonderful way to prepare our hearts for Christmas. 
