I am in desperate need of the Magnificat Advent Companion....hoping that I can make it over to the Catholic bookstore before they are all snatched up! That little booklet is always such a blessing to me in this busy season.
I guess a big part of my preparation for Advent in years past has been focused on decorating and doing activities with the kids. During Advent our homeschool lesson plans change from the Catholic Heritage Curriculum to a mix of educational and just plain fun activities and lessons which lead up to the birth of Jesus. I change out activities on our school shelves and this year I just feel kind of lost without my own space to be able to do that. I am trying to incorporate some Advent prep crafts and such the best that I can. Today we did this activity that I found on Catholic Icing. Making our frugal dollar store candles into Advent pink and purple ones...along with our dollar store wreath and fake flowers.
(I have to say the first two candles were "smoother" than the last two purples, but overall painting with melted crayons worked quite well, and Isabel enjoyed the instant transformation as much as I did!)
Now while I'm a little disappointed that we are not in the new house to be able to do all of this right now, I am excited and thankful that we are just getting a new home for Christmas! And that is the second part of my flurry of activity....I am spending wayyyy too much time on Pinterest and Craigslist searching for new finds/ideas/creations for the new home. I'm torn because it's fun to think about decorating and preparing a new house, and yet I don't want to be totally occupied by this excitement during this special season when I'm supposed to be focusing on preparing my heart.
And finally, there has been a flurry of activity in my belly lately! This baby who has seemed fairly inactive to me, has suddenly increased his or her movement quite a bit, and I've been enjoying it! Very thankful to be able to feel this little one move around more and more!
2 comments:
Such an exciting time, new house and new baby! :)
Angela~
I feel like this is the wrong place for the kind of comment I want to leave, but I couldn't find your e-mail anywhere, and I felt compelled to send you a message of some kind. I found your blog via a thread on a pregnancy web site; it was listed with the other things on your 'signature', and for some reason I followed it. As soon as I saw this page, I knew why God had kept me up until the wee hours, feeling restless and hanging around online for no good reason. My (only) child, a wonderful little boy, was born in August 2011 with something called Goldenhar Syndrome. It's a craniofacial syndrome that also affects kidneys, heart, spine, fingers, eyes, and ears. In my son's case, he will be able to live a pretty normal life, as most of his issues are 'small' - but as you can imagine, I have a lot of feelings about why he was born this way. I know and have known from the beginning that God has a plan for him, and I trust that wholeheartedly. I think my biggest issues (that continue to bother me semi-regularly) are my own role in what happened to my son (normal pregnancy, had no idea he'd be born with anything wrong; don't know what causes this), and also anxiety about a second pregnancy. My husband and I plan to start trying for a second baby in the next few weeks. It might seem strange, but as soon as I saw your picture, I felt like I was looking at an angel. I can see your kindness and your love for God in your face, and looking at your husband and beautiful children, knowing what you have gone through with your other children, who are with God now, I felt for the first time since my son was born that I am as innocent and radiant as you are in your picture. I 'know' it wasn't my fault, what happened during my pregnancy, but I think God designed something special tonight by bringing me to your page and letting me read your story. If God can give such challenges and so much heartbreak to a good woman like you, who I can plainly see did not 'deserve' anything painful, he obviously intended to use these events to BLESS YOU. So maybe, just maybe, it was the same with me. I read about your struggles with more than one pregnancy, and I felt like God was telling me 'look, you could be strong like this, too, if your next pregnancy requires strength'. I read Mary Grace's story from the beginning and I cried the whole time. I wish it didn't sound so trite, but I cannot tell you how much your blog inspired me. I hope to have more strength like yours. I guess what I really needed tonight was just to know that 'it's okay'. Horrible things can happen, things we would never want, and it can still be okay. Your blog was like a flashing sign, sending me that message. I just wanted to thank you for putting your story out there and sharing it with anyone who stumbles upon it on the internet. You really have blessed my heart, and I will be praying for your family from now on. Mary Grace's story has helped heal a little piece of me, and I thank you so much for that. ~L.
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