Advent 2009 ~ The King is Coming!

I’m sitting and thinking about Advent today (today being the first day of the holiday,) preparing and getting ready to both blog about it and also celebrate it with my family over the next six weeks. If you read any of my Advent posts last year, you know that this is a big deal for me. This is my absolute favorite time of year! I have always loved Christmas, and the more I learned about the tradition of Advent several years ago, the more it resonated with my soul. Every year I embrace this wholeheartedly ~ YES, this is how I want to do Christmas! It feels so right. The Christmas holiday should be the single most festive and joyous celebration in all the Christian calendar. Is there anything more exciting? The only other holiday that comes close is Easter, for obvious reasons, of course.

When I read back through my Advent posts from last year, I began to wonder “how in the world am I going to top THAT??” I wrote about it so much I wondered if I’d left anything to talk about. Well.. you know me, I found something. Quite a few somethings, actually. Originally, I’d planned on writing four posts between now and Christmas. I’ve changed my mind, I’m going to be writing about Advent every single Monday between now and January 6th, the Day of Epiphany – the day that Catholic tradition has set aside for the 3 kings who came to visit the infant Savior.

Are you ready? It’s going to be LOTS of fun.

In case you missed last year’s posts, you can review them here, for inspiration and ideas going into the Advent season:

1. Our Advent Calendar, Advent Wreath, Traveling Nativity & Other Traditions
2. Using Decorations to Add Symbolism & Meaning
3. Baking Your Way Into the Holiday Spirit
4. Giving: Taking time to give to others.
5. Keeping Christ in Christmas; Christmas morning

I’ve already mapped out my plan for the next six week, and I’m excited to begin. Here’s what you can expect for Advent 2009:

1. November 30, 2009 – Week 1, “Expectation”: Why Advent? What is it? Goals, etc.
2. December 07, 2009 – Week 2, “Execution” : Making it happen.
3. December 14, 2009 –  Week 3, “Anticipation” : Layering traditions to build anticipation.
4. December 21, 2009 – Week 4, “Culmination” : It’s all been building up to this.
5. December 28, 2009 – Week 5, “Resolution” : An end, and a beginning.
6. January 04, 2010  –    Week 6, “Closure” : He’s coming back again.

And lest that sound too stuffy and boring. I promise that every single post will be stuffed with several resource recommendations, or activities or downloadables, or SOMETHING. Plenty for everyone. Can’t WAIT to kick this off tomorrow — see you then!