A Journey through Advent

Matt and I often find ourselves having conversations that begin with, “When we have kids, let’s do things this way.” This most often involves some form of reading scripture, or memorizing the psalms, or making sure we put the focus on the right things during the holidays. It can be very easy to talk about all of these things and be confident that “when we have kids” we’ll just pick up those habits and show our best side. However, we all know it doesn’t work that way. We realized that if we ever plan to pass these things on to our children, we must begin practicing and participating in such disciplines now, in order that they become second nature to us.

The thing that has come up most recently, and the one we’re focusing on for now, is the Christmas season. We ‘ve talked about ways to make sure we understand the true importance of Christmas, and how we can pass that on to our family.

So let’s talk about Advent, the time of hopeful anticipation for the arrival of a savior. Until recently, I never paid any attention to what Advent was or meant. I just knew it was something that went on around Christmas time, and that, in our tradition, it isn’t something we talk about. However, through Matt’s passion and study of liturgy, I became aware of the church calendar. I started asking Matt question after question, with a real desire to learn more about how we can use these long-standing traditions to develop within us a steady rhythm of scripture, prayer, and worship. In many ways, following the church calendar sets the foundation for that rhythm.

So this year we’re going to do something a little different. I’m not going to post videos of Christmas songs counting down to Christmas Day (don’t worry, there will still be a Christmas Day song from Matt and Lauren!). Instead, we have temporarily renamed this blog Hopeful Expectations: A Journey through Advent. Starting tomorrow, on the first day of Advent, as Matt and I study together, we’ll share some thoughts here through the season of Advent. We invite you to join us on this journey, participating in the weekly readings, prayers, reflections, and study of Advent as we wait in hopeful expectation for the coming of our Lord.