The 4th Sunday of Advent is Here!

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Remember when you were a child and it seemed like forever until Christmas would arrive?  Those days between Thanksgiving and Christmas could seem like an eternity!

Since becoming an adult, or more specifically a parent, it seems like the time just flies by in a blur at times.  That’s how it is for me this year…again…a blur of time passing by with a propensity to fall into that trap of self-deprecation for not doing everything I think I should be doing to make this a magical time for them.  Thankfully, I have been embracing the fact that things will never be the picture perfect setting which books and movies often portray.

After weeks of asking WHEN the tree would go up, I set it up yesterday.  D helped with stringing lights onto it and we had some fun with it trying to topple over on us. However, the boys then refused to add more than a handful of ornaments to the tree. All that bugging and they lost interest in a matter of minutes!

This past week saw a tie for most clicks, with three different posts tied for the most clicks! Many thanks to those of you leaving a link and then taking the time to visit blog posts of other Christians sharing about their journey this Advent.

Elizabeth at Theology is a Verb shared THIS ADVENT: WHERE ARE WE HEADED? reflects upon the difficult journey Mary and Joseph had to make to Bethlehem and how we are called to follow God’s call which sometimes means being less than comfortable.

More Than an Old Song over at TiberJudy shares some of the history of the familiar carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. I remember when I first learned how it was really a catechesis than just entertainment and how that led to an aha moment for me.  This would make an excellent addition to any holiday homeschooling efforts with the kids!

Birgit from Designs from Birgit shared Walking Through the Doors of Mercy. What a beautiful journal of her family’s short pilgrimage during this Holy Year of Mercy!  Here in Anchorage we have TWO Holy Doors to pick from as the Cathedral has a secondary designated location in the city as the original Cathedral is a bit on the small side. Our family has not made a pilgrimage to either location yet, but I plan to incorporate that into one of our days very soon.

As for some personal favorites, I really enjoyed reading Encounter the Divine in the Mundane at Joy of Nine9 written by Melanie Jean Juneau. This is a post she selected from her archives to feature as part of the weekly Worth Revisiting linkup. I know that as a mother it can seem that all life entails is the mundane.  Whether you have an infant who needs a TON of attention or older children who still seem to demand a fair bit of your time (as the house needs cleaning, laundry needs washing, and dinner doesn’t cook itself!)

Another post that I really enjoyed was Mankind Is My Business over at Virginia Lieto.  Like many, the story A Christmas Carol resonates with me as Ebeneezer is blind to so much and needs a serious jolt to wake up to the reality of his life and what his future holds without a serious course correction.  We haven’t watched any versions of this familiar tale, but I plan to pop at least one into the Blu-ray player or stream on our Roku soon.  Thanks to Virginia for the reminder that we can make small changes that can reap huge rewards.

 

 

My friend Trish over at A House Upon the Rock is joining me in co-hosting this 40 day meme.   We will not be doing a daily link-up, but rather a weekly one.  If you blog more than once a week, please add each link to the link-up, we’d love to find you and read what you are doing and learning as you seek Him.

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Please consider joining us as we Seek Him for the next 40 days.   We will celebrate from the first day of Advent through Epiphany on Jan. 6th.

When joining us on the 40 Days of Seeking Him meme, please link directly to your post.  Every week we will link up and share what we are doing, learning or how we celebrate the birth of our Lord. You are more than welcome to link up to more than one post each week if you’ve written multiple posts on the topic of Advent and growing closer to Christ.

If you would, please help us find each other by using the photo button in your posts. Grab the code on this page here. Also, we’ll be using the hashtag #40DaysofSeekingHim on social media!

We have a Pinterest board we will be adding participants posts to from the weekly link ups. If you want to follow it you can find it here.  We will also be highlighting a favorite post from the previous week as well as the most visited post.

We’d love to have you join our Facebook Group/Page. We will be posting there and chatting through the season as well.

Thank you for joining us.  I look forward to reading your posts (as many as I possibly can) as we share what we are doing to prepare our hearts for the most wonderful gift God gave us ~ Jesus Christ.

How are you making Advent A Time of Preparation in your life?