Celebrating Advent?
Every time I check my email these days I find at least one more offer for an advent devotional. Each one looks interesting and encouraging, but I feel, truthfully, a bit Advent-material weary. And I feel a bit as if I’m not doing Advent right. Advent guilt?
Lately I’ve remembered that every Advent my mom created a wreath for her dining room table. It contained four tall, red candles with one green candle in the middle. She told me one year that the green candle in the middle represented my youngest brother and his December birthday. Mom tucked each candle into a hole made in a one-inch thick foam circle covered with aluminum foil. Then she covered it all with some cut pine branches and pinecones from our yard. And finally, she placed a little, carved wooden nativity scene in the middle of everything.
Nothing elaborate. And even a bit unorthodox with the addition of the birthday candle. 
But today as I sit and think about that wreath, I see that it offers me wisdom in celebrating Advent and letting go of my false Advent-guilt.
Keep it simple.
Let it feature both faith and family.
As I poked around the Internet to read about why Christians celebrate Advent, I came across this answer on gotquestions.org (a helpful website for answering questions related to faith in God):
“Are Christians required to observe Advent? No. Does observing Advent make one a better Christian or more acceptable to God? No. Can celebrating Advent be a good reminder of what the season is truly all about? Yes, and therein lies its greatest value.”
Remembering.
I can do that. And I can keep it simple.
I have decided this Advent to sit in my favorite living room chair every day in December and read through the Gospel of Luke with repeated readings of the Christmas story as told in the first two chapters.
And, I just bought a foam circle and candles to construct my own Mom-style Advent wreath (photo next week). I will keep my wreath in my kitchen where I can see it every day and remember both the birth of Jesus and the life of my mom who nurtured within my soul my love of Jesus. Oh, and I’m adding a pink candle in the center of my wreath.
What about you? How are you celebrating Advent? How do you keep it simple?
