Celebrating Advent...

A view of my Advent wreath from the top! I"ll use this later to explain how to make one.

It turned out pretty well!

This year, we're celebrating Advent. I didn't grow up celebrating Advent, or any other type of Christmasy tradition, so I've been learning a lot this year. David celebrated when he was a child, so this was something he'd been missing since we've been married.
For those of you who don't know (like me) or need a refresher, The Advent Wreath has five candles, three are purple, one is pink (or rose), and one is white. The four non-white candles are placed in a wreath of evergreens or an ornamented wreath. One candle is lit each Sunday in Advent, (this year, that Sunday is December 3) with the pink candle being lit on the third Sunday (Gaudette Sunday) in Advent. When the candles from the previous weeks are relit, it's symbolic of the arrival of Christ bringing light into darkness. The traditional color of the purple came from when the tone for Advent was penance, just like Lent. The Prophecy Candle is the first candle lit. It reminds us of the prophets who foretold Christ's birth, especially Isaiah. This candle is also called the "hope" candle. The Bethlehem Candle, symbolic of the Christ Child's cradle, is second. This candle is also called the "love" candle. The Shepherd's Candle is third. This pink or rose-colored candle typifies the act of sharing Christ. Pink symbolizes the Advent Rose, a time to pause in this season to Rejoice in the Lord. This candle is lit on Gaudette Sunday. Gaudette means "rejoice". This candle is also called the "joy" candle. The Angel's Candle is the fourth one. It is the candle of love and final coming. This candle is also called the "peace" candle. The Christ candle, colored white and sometimes larger than the rest, is placed in the center of the wreath. It's traditionally lit on Christmas Eve.

When I started looking for an Advent wreath for us, I found out pretty early that they can be expensive. So I made my own, using a tutorial from a blog that's now shut down, so I can't link to it. I started out with a plain wreath from Michael's. It was about $2.00 on sale. I put it on top of a flat mirror, also from Michael's, also about $2.00. You could also set your wreath on a pretty platter or glass plate that you already have. Just make sure that the wreath is the right size to go over the plate. I decided that I wanted to use tall tapered candles in my wreath, so I bought 5 glass candleholders for $1 a piece at Ikea. If you wanted to use smaller candles, you could just get some cheap votive holders at Walmart. Again, you may have candlesticks on hand that you could use. I didn't; ours are in storage, so I bought some.

To decorate my wreath, I asked my parents for some pine cones from the yard at home. I also bought a berry "pick" at Michaels for $1. I cut up the berries and interspersed them in my wreath, and I used some floral picks from Michael's to secure the pine cones. You can find those in the flower arranging section, and I think they were $2 for 20 or so in a package. You can decorate your wreath any way that you want with any materials that float your boat. You can find purple and pink tapered candles at Michael's; I tried Walmart, but they didn't have any. I think they were $1 a piece, too. So, let's add it up.
I spent $12 total on my wreath, not including the $5 for candles that I'll have to replace year after year. Not too shabby! If you already have a nice plate or candlesticks that you can use, that would cut your cost a little more.

It has been a struggle for me to figure out how to honor Christ in the Christmas season. My home church growing up (no, it was not Jehovah's Witness) didn't celebrate Christmas, and my family didn't either. The reasoning was that Jesus was not born on Dec. 25. Dec. 25 was actually the time of the Roman Winter Solstice. The ancient Romans would give presents and decorate evergreen trees to celebrate this festival. When the Emperor Constantine became a Christian, he decided that he would turn this festival into a celebration of Christ's birth, in effect, attempting to "Christianize" it.
It's been thousands of years since then, and I'm not sure how well he succeeded. I've walked through 6 aisles of Christmas decorations at Hobby Lobby before finally finding the small 1/3 of an aisle devoted to manger scenes. I've seen plenty of posts and comments from other bloggers who are trying to figure out how to glorify Christ in the middle of what is often an American commercial holiday devoid of Christian meaning.

So it's been tough for me. I married a Christian, who, like most, celebrated Christmas growing up. He had the tree and the tinsel and the presents and the whole 9 yards, and he has missed it during the time since we've been married. I haven't felt comfortable with any of that, and he's been gracious enough not to ask me to provide those things for him. I appreciate his sensitivity.

At the same time, I have slowly changed in my attitude toward Christmas. I have realized that it's a good thing to be thankful and to celebrate Christ's birth whenever and wherever I think about it. Christmas is as good a time as any to do that, and it's better in some ways because there are plenty of concerts and other events that glorify Christ and celebrate His coming. There are lots of easy reminders within Christian culture that focus solely on Christ at this time of year, and I don't want to opt out of those good things just because there is a lot of non-Christ honoring stuff out there.

So I've been slowly trying to figure out what would be a help to our family in honoring Christ at this time of year and what would be a hindrance to me, especially given my background. Giving gifts at Christmas is not something that I'm comfortable with because of how commercialized our Christmas culture is, and I have a hard time imagining a Christmas tree in our house. But manger scenes and Advent wreaths seem to serve a purpose in honoring Christ and focusing on Him and Him alone at this time of year, so I'm exploring integrating them into our home and family.

I am not saying that those of you out there who have a tree and presents and all the glitz and glitter of Christmas are bad. I know this could be a controversial topic for many. All I'm saying is that, for me, all of that is a distraction from Christ's birth. Christ's birth and cultural Christmas are very separated in my mind, and I know that that's not typical for most people. I also, think, though, that I have a unique perspective that is helpful at this time of year. I don't worry so much about doing the traditional Christmas things that stress out many people because I've never done them. Since we didn't have Christmas, I'm not tempted to spend lots of time and money on things that aren't part of celebrating Christ's birth. I am starting from a clean slate with Christmas, and I like that. The emotional pulls of nonessentials aren't there as much for me, so I feel some freedom in how to build in appropriate and Christ honoring traditions into the holiday.

I like where I am in all this (some days), and I am joyful about celebrating Christmas this year in a whole new way. I've never had Advent before, so I feel like I'm approaching it as a child, with that kind of childlike wonder. It won't always be this new and fresh to me, so I'm relishing that. Come, Lord Jesus, come into my new celebrating of Christmas. Show me how to glorify you and take joy in your journey to us as a lowly Babe. I just want to honor you.