Advent Book Suggestions

Need some idea for good books to help you celebrate your Advent season?

Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent

Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration

Advent Arts and Christmas Crafts: With Prayers and Rituals for Family, School and Church

Advent and Christmas Wisdom From G. K. Chesterton

We Light the Candles: Devotions Related to Family Use of the Advent Wreath

Advent Storybook: 24 Stories to Share Before Christmas


See more at my Amazon Store!

Or Search for yourself:

Anglican Advent Traditions Carnival - 2008

Welcome! I'm so glad you've found our Advent carnival. (A special "Hello" to our visitors from Stand Firm and Anglicans Online!)

Are you interested in learning how to keep Advent - or maybe you want some new ideas for keeping Advent? Grab a cup of coffee and join us!

First, a little history:

"What is Advent?
Advent marks the beginning of the Christmas season and the Church year for most Western churches. The word "Advent" means "arrival" or "coming" in Latin and represents the approach of Christ's birth (and fulfillment of the prophecies about that event) and the awaiting of Christ's second coming. It is composed of the four Sundays before Christmas day, starting on the Sunday closest to November 30th, which is the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle, and ending on Christmas. Because Christmas is on a different day from year to year, Advent may last anywhere from 22 to 28 days.

In the 4th and 5th centuries, Advent was the preparation for the "Epiphany" rather than Christmas. (Epiphany is celebrated in early January and focuses on various events in Jesus' life such as the visits of the magi, His baptism and miracles.) It was also a time for new Christians to be baptized and welcomed into the church, while members of the church examined their hearts and focused on penance. Religious leaders exhorted the people to prepare for the feast of Christmas by fasting. Some say that early documents show that those leaders treated Advent as a second Lent.

Sometime in 6th century Rome, the focus of Advent shifted to the second coming of Christ. In the 9th century, Pope St. Nicholas reduced the duration of Advent from six weeks to the four weeks we currently observe. And finally, sometime in the middle ages--approximately the 1500's--an additional focus on the anticipation before Christ's birth was added to that of His second coming. " From The Teaching Mom: History of Advent


Advent continues today to be a season of preparation, of our hearts and homes, for the celebration of the Birth of Christ. It can also be a perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of society's "Holiday Season".

So, are you interested to see how some of my Anglican friends are celebrating Advent this year? Me, too! Let's read on...


Jessica, from Homemaking Through the Church Year, has posted a lovely post with so many wonderful ideas for Advent (with a great list for fun activities) and some food for thought, too.


Two Square Meals - is waiting on two births: that of Christ and that of her next child. I've always thought it was very special to be at the end of a pregnancy during Advent and Christmas. She's enjoying a number of Advent traditions as she counts down the days to both these births.


Jamie at Oh, Be Careful! - has two posts: one about the Advent Wreath and one about the Jesse Tree. With her usual wonderful sense of humor and a little seriousness, she shares these two family traditions.


Karen at Lent & Beyond is really the "go-to-girl" for all things Anglican Prayer. She has a fantastic page devoted entirely to Anglican Advent links for 2008. A wonderful resource!


Amy has posted an Advent message from the Archbishop of Canterbury on her blog On a Joyful Journey.


And my own reflections on the Advent That Almost Wasn't...and some simple ideas for celebrating Advent during busy or stressful times.


Want more? Me, too! Last year's Carnival had a number of excellent posts and resources, so don't miss that...but I've got an idea that might make this Carnival grow over Advent.

Below is a Mr. Linky. I encourage anyone to post their Advent links over the course of Advent. You can submit as many links as you like - just keep to the theme: Advent.




Have a blessed Advent!

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The Advent that almost wasn't

Advent almost got put by the wayside this year for my family. Me, a die-hard devotee of all things liturgical, almost said, "Advent is just too much for me this year."

I almost let it slip away....

It has been a very wild year for our family - but especially so this Fall. The thought of pulling out all the Advent items, thoughtfully planning our Advent activities, and keeping up with our various Advent celebrations...well, it all just seemed too much. We needed low-key, we needed normalcy, we needed quiet. Advent was too much work - or so I thought.

What our December would look like - would it be devoid of all things Christmas, sort of a non-Advent Advent? Or would it, as so often happens when something is removed, just fill up with what our pop-culture considers an appropriate pre-Christams hysteria? That doesn't sound too low-key, or normal, or quiet.

Then, it hit me...Advent is low-key, it is normal, and it is quiet. It is exactly what we need.

That is one thing I adore about the Liturgical year - when it becomes a part of your family culture, it can have a stabilizing affect. As life swirls around us, we have the familiarity of the same activities, traditions, smells, sounds, words to keep us anchored. And what better to be anchored to than the Church - the Bride of Christ and, as the Bride of Christ, Christ himself?

We will have a beautiful, low-key, normal and quiet Advent this year - with it's bright spots of St. Nicholas Day, St. Lucia Day, Gaudete Sunday, and other pre-Christmas planning. It will probably be a little less planned out than previous Advents in our family, but that is one of the joys of the liturgical year in the home - the more you do it, the less pre-planning it takes!

I encourage you - if you think Advent is just too much, reconsider! If you've never celebrated or kept Advent before, start simply. If you've done it for many years, scale down if you must. But don't miss it. It is a season of quiet joy and expectation. You'll find that it properly places Christmas at the pinnacle of the season, rather than on a precipice.

Need some ideas for keeping a simple Advent (whether it is your first or fortieth?) Read on.

How do you plan a simple Advent? What are the essentials? Well, there are as many different traditions of Christian worship as there are "essentials" of Advent. But, since you are here, I'll share my family's essentials.

• Using an Advent Wreath - Some families are diligent to use their Advent Wreath every day, we are not so diligent...and to be honest, even some Sundays we find ourselves a bit worn out from a full day with our Church family. But pick a night of the week, Wednesdays or Fridays might be logical, to do your Advent Wreath lighting and devotional. There are many suggested devotionals online.



• Celebrating St. Nicholas Day - If you have children, I highly encourage you to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. Even if you still have "Santa" on Christmas Eve, you can have a celebration on his feast day and let St. Nick come fill up stockings or shoes with some little treats. Come back on Monday and I'll share our celebration ideas for this upcoming feast day (Dec 6th).



• Limiting Christmas decorations - There are many schools of thought about decorating for Christmas, but if you are going to truly put Christmas at the absolute pinnacle of the season rather than the precipice, I recommend finding some way to limit your decorations. The goal being to save the most flamboyant decorations for Christmas Eve, Day, and the Twelve Days. Some people hold off on any decorations until Christmas Eve, while others bring out certain items on certain days slowly decorating the home over the Advent Season. (We bring out St. Nick decorations, the Scandinavian ones on St. Lucia Day, we light the tree on St. Lucia Day - but no ornaments, and then on Christmas Eve we decorate the tree and put out the rest of our fun decorations.)



• Special Advent Family Reading - Find a lovely story or devotional that you might read together as a family during Advent. There are some nice devotional stories that you might use...or even something classic like "A Christmas Carol", "The Gift of the Magi", or books with wonderful Christmas scenes in them like "Little House on the Prairie", "Wind in the Willows", "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew", or "Little Women". What I love about these types of books is that the story can be timed to reach the Christmas scene just before Christmas arrives - or just after.

However you choose to celebrate or keep Advent, I pray it will be a truly blessed one for you and your family! Come back in the following days, for more ideas - including St. Thomas Day, St. Nick's Day, St. Lucia, and more.

Be sure to read more of this year's Anglican Advent Traditions Carnival ! Want more, check out my series of posts from last year's carnival!

Still want more? See my book suggestions for Advent reading and ideas.

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Carnival Extended Deadline

Well, it seems that there have been a number of people who'd like to contribute a post, but have had very busy schedules lately...so, I'm extending the carnival deadline. I don't want anyone to miss out!! I'm planning on putting together the carnival this week as I get posts. I really won't have time to work on it at all on Thursday (I'm cooking!!), so get your posts to me by Wednesday. I'll finish up the carnival main page Wednesday evening and set it to publish early Friday.

There is a chance I'll still be able to add any posts that come in on Thursday before I publish on Friday morning, so is you are really late, send it in anyway! :)


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Don't forget - Advent Carnival!

Don't forget - this Sunday, November 23rd is the deadline for the Anglican Advent Traditions Carnival. (Take a peek at last year's: Anglican Advent Traditions Carnival) This was a fun way to find other Anglican and liturgical-minded bloggers - and to gather some fresh ideas for the Advent season.

Here's what you need to know...time is short (Advent starts on Nov 30th!), so let's get ready...

* All posts will need to be submitted by Sunday, November 23rd via email to kerrysblogs (at) gmail (dot) com - include name (yours), post link, and a synopsis of your post(s).

*If you are considering submitting a post, please leave me a comment. This will help me gauge the participation.

* The Carnival will open on Friday, November 28th. Please be sure to spread the word on your blog that day and include a direct link to the Carnival.

* While this carnival has an "Anglican" heart, it is not limited to Anglicans. If you are of the liturgical mind, please participate! Just remember - this is not about Christmas...it is about Advent. :)

* Whether you are participating or not - will you help me spread the word? Feel free to grab the graphic and post on your blog - please use it only to advertise this event. Would you post about it now (with a link to this page) and also on the day the Carnival opens? Thanks!!!

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Art Resources for Homeschoolers - November 2008

While the Newark Museum does not have the entire collection online for this exhibit (Paths to Impressionism), they still have some good examples and they have a series of short essays on the themes of Impressionism in America, particularly the precursor, The Barbizon School of painting.

Museum of Modern Art offers an online, searchable database of their collection. An excellent resource when you are looking for examples of modern era artworks.

J. Paul Getty Museum is presenting an exhibition of Les Belles Heures of the Duke of Berry, a fantanstic medieval illuminated manuscript. Online you can find nine images from Les Belles Heures with enlargements, zoom capability, and audio discussion, as well as 2 educational videos. If you are in the area (Los Angelos) there are a number of lectures, talks and performances that you can attend (oh how I wish I was there!). Want to learn more? Check out the suggested booklist.








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He Gives and Takes Away

Whew - what a whirlwind week. My blogging break came at just the right time...but as you can see, I can't seem to keep away. :)

Last Saturday, a dear Christian sister passed away after a two-year battle with lung cancer (never a smoker - not that that makes lung cancer ok). She was originally given 6 months to live, but kept on kicking on sheer humor and hope for an extra 18 months! She leaves behind a loving husband and two children: 10 and 13. I was able to make it to Hospice before she passed away - unfortunately she was not conscious, but we hope she was able to hear us. She passed into the arms of her Savior peacefully and surrounded by family and friends - literally. Sunday's church service was so emotional and heart-wrenching. But today we had a wonderful funeral service and reception to celebrate her life...and while we grieve her loss in our lives, we are joyous for her passage into eternal life!

Then as we were making plans for the reception fast and furious yesterday, we got a phone call from our adoption agency - WE HAVE A DAUGHTER! She is a baby and that is about all we know right now. We are waiting on further info (medical info, birth info, etc), but she looks really plump and healthy! Her Ghanaian name would be Adjoa (they base names on the birth day of the week - she was born on a Monday), so that is what I'll call her on the blog. I wish I could post photos, but I can't do that until the adoption is final. Trust me when I say she is really, really precious...so says her proud Forever Mama.

My Dear Neighbor noted earlier this week (Sunday was it?) that she wouldn't be at all surprised if in the midst of this grief of losing our friend, we'd get our referral...the Lord takes away with one hand and gives with the other. And so He has.

By the way - Peter Piper's Picks will probably be taking a break this week, too. With the busy-ness of preparing for the funeral and getting the paperwork together and in the mail yesterday for this referral...just haven't been keeping up with much blog reading.

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Peter Piper's Picks - Nov 8th

While I'm not really blogging, I am still reading blogs and online magazines/newspapers. Here are some interesting bits I've come across this week...

Has the American church - specifically Protestantism been sold a "bill of goods" in the form of theological support for contraception? Have we unwittingly ushered in a culture that is hostile to marriage and children? Have we erred by giving in to zeitgeist rather than holding the line on traditional morals? Since I was a young girl, the only position on contraception that seemed true and rational to me was the Roman Catholic one - it only took me over 30 years to accept it. I do believe they have bravely held the line that the Protestantism should never have crossed.

I love reading the StandFirm blog. It is mostly concerned with issues concerning the Anglican Church in America, but often there are great essays about Anglicanism in general and Christianity in general. Earlier this week, Matt Kennedy posted a wonderful "apology" (as in apologetics) for the use of incense in the liturgical service...but he goes on to examine the use of beauty in the church also. Not beauty for beauty's sake, but beauty to draw us into the beauty of God. It's a really good and quick read.

From the article, Technology, Culture, and Virtue:
"By disconnecting culture from nature and regarding nature as an enemy to be conquered, we have, above all, disconnected ourselves from the most important aspect of culture: the inexorable lessons of the limits of human power and the pitfalls of human efforts at mastery. Every culture in some way teaches this same fundamental lesson: to respect what we did not create, to revere the mysterious and unknown, to be bound by the limits of nature and to be cognizant of the perpetual flaws of the human creature."

Life in the Not-So-Big-House.

So, are we in for a more humorless White House? Would you believe that conservatives tend to be more jovial than liberals? George Bush certainly knew how to laugh, especially at himself.


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Upcoming Advent Carnival

Last year, a group of Anglican "family" bloggers got together for the first Anglican Advent Traditions Carnival and it was a huge hit! What a wonderful way to find other Anglican and liturgical-minded bloggers - and I think we all enjoyed swapping ideas.

I'm ready to do it again! Want to join in?

Here's what you need to know...time is short (Advent starts on Nov 30th!), so let's get ready...

* All posts will need to be submitted by Sunday, November 23rd via email to kerrysblogs@gmail.com - include name (yours), post link, and a synopsis of your post(s).

*If you are considering submitting a post, please leave me a comment. This will help me gauge the participation.

* The Carnival will open on Friday, November 28th. Please be sure to spread the word on your blog that day and include a direct link to the Carnival.

* While this carnival has an "Anglican" heart, it is not limited to Anglicans. If you are of the liturgical mind, please participate! Just remember - this is not about Christmas...it is about Advent. :)

* Whether you are participating or not - will you help me spread the word? Feel free to grab the graphic and post on your blog - please use it only to advertise this event. Would you post about it now (with a link to this page) and also on the day the Carnival opens? Thanks!!!

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Today's Daily Office Reading

I love it when the Daily Office readings coincide amazingly well with what is going on in the world. Today's reading seems awfully prophetic on election day:


Luke 13:1-9 (NRSV)

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2He asked them, 'Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them-do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.'

6 Then he told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, "See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?" 8He replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down."'

The other readings are from Revelations and Ecclesiasticus.

Back to my blog break....

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Peter Piper's Picks - Nov 1 - All Saints' Day

Well, although I'm taking a blogging-semi-break, I can't pass up passing along some good reading. So, for this week atleast, Peter Piper's Picks is up and running....

Wendell Berry has long been on my list of "must-read" and yet, I've only read about him, not his actual words. As I've suspected, he's got a lot to offer our culture in our current situation.

I've been thinking recently about the value of human life in this culture. John Piper hit it on the head when he commented on the value of an unborn human's life being worth atleast as much as a dog's life - and yet our culture doesn't see that. HT: HalfPint House.

The always insightful Headmistress reminds us that our quest for good government is nothing new, but it would be nice if we all had this for our common goal. Perhaps we do have the same goal, just not the same way of getting there. Since it is such a short quote, I'll post it here, but please don't let this keep you from checking out this awesome blog!

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."Marcus Tullius Cicero - 55 BC

Do go spend some time in The Common Room, you won't be disappointed.

Crazy is good.

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