More than candles and a cute little baby

One of the family Christmas traditions we observed in my family was lighting the candles of our Advent wreath. Amanda, being the wonderful wife that she is, found an Advent wreath a few years back that is exactly the same as the one I had grown up with. It now sits proudly on our dining room table, waiting for this Sunday when it can enter into service.

The observation of the Advent season, like most traditions, can become overly familiar, out of focus, and even useless to us. That is, if we don't constantly remind ourselves what it is we are celebrating. Among the presents, the food, the songs, and the Disney movies, we run the risk of celebrating sentimentality and nothing more, no matter how many times we remind ourselves that "Jesus is the reason for the season." Jeff Meyers makes some good points about how we should approach the Advent seasion: Continue reading this post »