Season of Hope

I was the child that told all the other four year olds, "There is no Santa Claus".  My parents did not believe it was right to take the focus off the real reason for Christmas - the birth of Christ.  I also could not watch He-Man because God was the only "Ruler of the Universe".  Pants were not allowed.  You get the picture.  Thankfully as my parents matured in their Faith some guidelines in our house changed.  Eventually the girls in our house were able to wear pants and by the time me and my siblings were parents, my parents decided to include Santa in the Christmas festivities.  As a child, we read the story of Christ's birth before we opened presents.
Today, Numero Uno and I read the Christmas story the night before we open presents.  This year I stumbled across several pins and references to The Truth in the Tinsel.  Last year was my first year to do an Advent Calendar with the kids(at least I think it was the first year).  I was simply looking for a way to make the season exciting for the kids. There is SO much that goes on in the month of December that having it planned out on an Advent Calendar gave the kids something to look forward to each day.  With finding the ebook The Truth in the Tinsel, I had the idea to incorporate more of the story of Christ's birth throughout the season and not just in one reading.
Now, I did not purchase the ebook.  I read people's reviews on it and got the gist of it from pics.  I believe the main thing is taking a different portion of the Christmas story, reading it, then making an ornament to hang as a reminder.  Great idea but I really do not have time to make 25 different ornaments with the kids.  I loved the fact that more time would be spent reading and explaining the truth of the Christmas season. 

I started our Advent Calendar November 30 and created 24 days of scripture reading and activities.  For example, tonight's card had us read about Joseph and our activity was to view the lights at a local city park.  The kids' calendar hangs in their toy room and they are very diligent to remind me it's time to pull a card:)

 

Besides weaving more background information about the participants in Christ's birth story into our seasonal preparations, I also created an Advent Calendar for my spouse.  Of course I got my idea from Pinterest.

 



This was the pin I originally saw.  And made this....

 

 

 

Numero Uno's calendar hangs in our closet. There's a reason for this, it's private.  I did not want children's eyes to see it.  This doesn't mean that all of it is not G rated.  It just means that some things should stay between me and my man. 

While planning this calendar, I was excited.  I had read to give a compliment or a service or a gift.  Well I ended up thinking of 18 compliments to go along with 18 activities.  (I got started on this project late so that's why we're counting down 18 days til Christmas).  It is true, once you start being thankful for what you have, you become even more thankful for what you have!  And I have an amazing husband.  Here's a sample of one of the days...

 

 

The activities for my man's calendar varied.  Some things were already on our calendar, such as the kids' Christmas parties.  Other activities were private while others were just fun gifts for him or acts of service to show I cared (i.e. vacuum out his car). 

We are only three days in but I can tell my man likes the calendar. He already told me we're doing this next year! 

I read recently from iMom how we as wives are like a mirror to our husband.  What we reflect to him through our actions and words will be what he feels and thinks about himself.  I want to "show" my husband what a wonderful person he is.  Doing this makes ME appreciate him more and respond more lovingly to him.

All in all, I want this season to be warm, inviting, and filled with hope and expectation. God is coming near...