Christmastime is here.  Well, not really.  It’s actually about to be Advent, the four-week preparation for Christmas that is its own beautiful, peaceful season.

Preparing to celebrate Advent can be as simple as you wish.  Many people have an Advent wreath that you can either buy or make from a log or evergreen branches.  You need candles.  Traditionally it has four candles: three purple and one pink.  Lately the Advent candle packs have been adding a white candle to light on Christmas as well.  You can order these on Amazon or get them at many church bookstores.

When the kids were little, we used to pick out worthy Christians … saints, if you will … to study during the season on Advent Eve.

We also have an Advent countdown calendar that created the manger scene when finished.  These calendars are everywhere, and they are enjoyable.  Most of these calendars start with Dec. 1, which is actually workable this year.

Another cool tradition is wrapping up 25 stories … little Golden Christmas books towards the end … in newspaper or magazine pages.  The kids can open one a day to read.

You actually can do as much or as little as you wish on Advent.  Just keep it slow and beautiful to enjoy the Lord’s presence before the day you open presents.