Tuesday, December 01, 2009

A New Christmas Tradition


When I was a nanny in Germany, I was introduced to the Christmas tradition of Advent. On each of the 4 Sundays before Christmas, you light a candle on the advent wreath(or 2 for the 2nd Sunday, etc) and do a Christmas thing. The wreath signifies eternal life and the candles signify the light of Christ. One of my favorite memories of Christmas in Germany was gathering in the living room and singing Christmas songs while the Advent candle was burning. They didn't have a real Advent wreath (the thing that you put the 4 candles in) but it was still just as magical. I love that the purpose of celebrating it is to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Well, even though I promised not to go thrift-store shopping for a whole month, I DID. But I have a good reason. I was with my family the day before Thanksgiving and we were dropping off a load of junk when everyone went inside. I knew I couldn't buy anything and I was going to prove to myself and you that I wouldn't. But then, I saw it.

It was something I had been searching the internet for.

It was something I had been searching all the thrift stores for.

But I hadn't quite found what I was looking for. Until, that is, the day before Thanksgiving.

It was a...drum roll please...an advent wreath! And it was only a few dollars. It was way better than anything I had seen online and was classy and not cheesy. So I broke my promise (with Brandon's permission of course) and bought it. But all for the sake of a new family tradition.

And I couldn't be happier. Not that things make me happy. But sitting in our living room this past Sunday with the tree lights sparkling, the advent candle burning, sipping hot chocolate and eating apple streusel muffins, and reading a Christmas story from the Ensign with my sweetheart was magical. And there are still 3 more Sundays to do it. Wow. I'm excited.

Even if you don't have an advent wreath, its really fun taking a moment to stop and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

5 comments:

Dean, Andrea, Tanner, Landon, & Braddock said...

I LOVE your advent wreath and the whole idea! So fun!

Emily & Kyle said...

oh. so cute. mel and brandon's own cute traditions! love it!

Heather@Women in the Scriptures said...

We do something kind of like that. I paint a long taper candle with 24 dots on it and then burn it every night down to the next dot. I'd like to start reading a Christmas story or a Christmas scripture to go along with it. I love the wreath though-- maybe I'll incorporate that in.

Jessica said...

You have the cutest ideas!!

Leslie said...

Good deal! I love your advent wreath. Funny thing, I was just glancing at the post while Nate read and i just saw it said "3 more Sundays" and i thought you were making an announcement until i read it more closely. Hmm, DO you have anything to tell us??