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[patofl]

For me that means the big advent candles at church and talking about the expectation of Christ's birth.At home I like to decorate today so we have the tree & decorations up all through the advent season. Once advent starts I get very into the Christmas mode, shopping, wrapping, decorating . Just all of it.

Decorating is done so now I have a few small items to buy and then I start baking. When I was young my Mom and I did the baking together. She's been gone now 28 years and I still miss the time we spent baking together for Christmas.

[Nonametoday]

Your story sounds like mine.  Starting the first Sunday of Advent to get into the mood.  Plus today is my Mother's birthday.  She has been gone 21 years (legally)  but with Alzheimer's, it has been about 30 years ago (her mind went about 9 years before her heart stopped).  I used to dream about baking with her and I would wake up in such a realistic state, I would want to run to the phone and call her.  I miss her.  Yes, we had our first candle lighting for Advent today.  What a precious time of year.  I am listening to David Jeremiah talking about Mary being told that she would deliver the Son of God.  Such an old, old precious story.

[roxxy1]

Peace to all........

[Oznell]

This was the second year that the Advent season was kicked off in our town with a "living nativity" in a park.  All around the park, there were little tableaux of multiple. scenes, including the shepherds (complete with live goats!) and the humble stable scene, etc.  Again, my harum-scarum son played Joseph, and other members of the congregation filled other roles.

People either drove slowly around the park, or walked from vignette to vignette, pausing and savoring the various scenes.  Members of the sponsoring congregation served us our choice of hot cocoa or wassail.

It was beautiful, historic, moving.  Am so glad to live in a time and place where we are permitted these freedoms!

[Nonametoday]

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@Oznell wrote:

This was the second year that the Advent season was kicked off in our town with a "living nativity" in a park.  All around the park, there were little tableaux of multiple. scenes, including the shepherds (complete with live goats!) and the humble stable scene, etc.  Again, my harum-scarum son played Joseph, and other members of the congregation filled other roles.

People either drove slowly around the park, or walked from vignette to vignette, pausing and savoring the various scenes.  Members of the sponsoring congregation served us our choice of hot cocoa or wassail.

It was beautiful, historic, moving.  Am so glad to live in a time and place where we are permitted these freedoms!

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@Oznell  Would love to live in a city like that or even be near one so I could see it.  Sounds so lovely!

[Oznell]

You're right, it is, @Nonametoday.  We didn't have one either until a year ago when a beloved local piano teacher (and minister's wife) got the idea and got going.  I don't know where she gets all the live animals (although hubby thought he spotted a stuffed sheep among the live ones, ha) and energy to put it all together.  Hope they're able to keep it going!

[Katcat1]

@Nonametoday  What a beautiful story.  I miss my mother too.  I hold on to all the memories I had with her.  

[GingerPeach]

My mom would create her own Advent wreath every year (no store-bought wreaths for her), wrap it with ribbon that she reused each year, and place four candles on it, one to be lit, of course, each of the four Sundays before Christmas.

She would use more ribbon to hang it from a ceiling fixture.

She used four chunky red candles, or sometimes two red and two white.  

She also made a gingerbread house every year and populated it with Hansel, Gretel, and the witch figurines.  We got to eat the wonderful German cookies she either received from Germany and placed on the cookie house roof and walls, or she would bake many of her own for the little house.  She made the best icicles!  They were long and eye-catching.  If they'd been real icicles on a real house, that witch would have been, well, I was going to say 'impaled,' but that's kind of gruesome for a Christmas post (but not for those Grimm fairy tales).

[giddy up]

I was debating how to change the look of my bed this December.  I have many sheet sets in many colors.  Same for blankets and quilts.  I was going to go with a bright red sheet set and solid red quilt then transition to my Christmas themed quilt later in the month.  That would have been fine by itself, but then I had an idea based on the advent candle to start the month with deep amythest purple sheets and dark purple solid  quilt then trasition to the red combinations after the 10th of the month or so.   The purple is on the bed.

[patofl]

In my church the meaning of the 3 purple, one pink and one white candles are purple for the first 3 weeks of advent for penance, one pink the 4th Sunday for rejoicing and the center white one lit on Christmas eve is for peace and joy.

I am sure every church does things differently but this is my church's take on it.