Gearing up for my first 'grown-up' Advent

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I am more than a little excited about Advent this year – and it's almost here. At Our Sunday Visitor, I have been surrounded for weeks by Advent stories, books and pamphlets sharing ways to celebrate and fully anticipate the coming of Christ. And, it’s my first Advent on my own and away from home.

Advent and I have history

I've celebrated Advent with my family for as long as I can remember. Taking turns lighting candles on the Advent wreath. Putting straw in Jesus' crib for good deeds. Listening to my mother read from the Little Blue Book. Baking enough cookies and bread to feed an army. Decorating with trinkets galore. Advent has always been special, and there are great family traditions that I’m looking forward to carrying on. But I am also eager to start my own.

So how can this Advent be different?

Advent can be such an amazing time of year, full of joy and eager anticipation – if we take the time to prepare to receive Christ into our hearts anew. My mother often told me that at some point my faith would have to become my own, something more than just my parents' faith. I'd like this Advent season to be one more step towards that inner conversion.

Where to begin? In last week's OSV Newsweekly, Lorene Hanley Duquin wrote about how to make Advent joyful, not stressful. She even shared 30 simple ways to make Advent stress-free (available as a poster). Lorene has some wonderful ideas. I thought I’d start there and see where it leads me.

Throughout Advent, I am going to share some of these and other ideas as I embark on my first "grown-up" Advent. I hope you'll join me on the journey.

Start your own Advent journey with resources from OSV.