Advent - against the grain!

Ah…. Yes the rush is on. The church tells us that it is Advent, and we are to be about active waiting. However the world around us spins, pulls and tugs at us telling us that we really don’t have to be patient, we can have it all right now! If you think life on a sleepy little island would be different, you would be wrong. Plays, concerts, programs, decoration, caroling, food, parties, and the whole lot are going on from now until Dec. 26^th my life is smacked!

Oh, most of it is good things, Hanging of the Greens with a Soup and Bread Supper to follow. A dance recital where my daughter will glide and prance as best she can with the genetics I have, for better or worse, handed down to her. One of my favorites is our Advent service we do on the 15^th. We do the O Antiphons which are very old prayers and have been morphed into the verses of O Come, O Come Emmanuel. It is a wonderful night very paced, slow and reflective.

I guess one advantage I have on the island is a lack of commercial pressure to buy, buy, buy! Oh I get a little of it from the brief amount of TV I watch. Then there is the ever increasing (if you can believe it) amount of Spam that is trying to wedge it’s way into my in box. Up here you have to plan ahead of you are going to do Christmas shopping. Sure there is the Mercantile, they have a few nice doo dads and what nots, but if you are going to be really thoughtful, or get the kids some, some, a very few of the many many things they want, then you have to plan.

Shopping online has been great for us up here. Otherwise it was a trip to Sturgeon Bay a ferry ride and an hour drive each way (total cost just for the trip 50.00 and without buying a thing!) or Green Bay (2 ½ hours away and more gas money and like as not an overnight stay at a hotel).

So as you can see, now is my Christmas rush! But I think I am doing Ok. Kristi and I are going light on the gifts to each other this year, we are just doing stocking stuffers (ie underwear, tube socks, candy, little cute thingys) and the kids are old enough where it is mostly clothing which is already purchased and stashed away! So things are looking up for this Advent, maybe I will get a little active, passionate waiting in despite it all!