Header...

It's that time of year again... Advent (not "new blog header").   I love it.  Mostly because I need to SLOW DOWN more than any person I know!  Today, it occurred to me that I was RUSHING through the activity I was doing TO RELAX.  (ok, if you must know, crotcheting.  All right, an afghan for Carly.)  Ryan was teasing me for the text I sent him a few months ago:  "The girl doing my pedicure is taking ENTIRELY too long and it's driving me nuts!!!!".  The reality speaks volumes.

So, waiting.  I'm very very bad at it, but aware enough to see the need.  And December is the one month I guess I allow myself to anticipate and savor something.   Which is kind of ironic since our calendar is seriously the FULLEST in December!! 

Our kids LOVE our Advent Calendar.  Ryan and I love it for what it teaches them... anticipating Christ's birth, spending time with family, and being patient!  Most of our activities will be repeats of last year, and a few new ones for good measure.  It's a tradition we've all come to love and I know that even when our kids are grown, Ryan and I will continue to plan activities and probably even "hide" the plan in the countdown calendar!!

I originally made a DIFFERENT header...

... a fine close up of our Advent Calendar.  I didn't love it, but I did love the verse.  It emulates the Season for us perfectly.  I love how the punctuation falls in this particular verse... "Wait for the Lord"  "Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord".  Particularly the "Be strong and take heart AND WAIT" part.  I spent the whole year waiting.  For my job to change.  From Night Shift to Day Shift.  I needed to sleep.  My family needed me to NOT be so cranky.  I needed to not be so bored with my job.  So I prayed for a change of heart, since I didn't think a job change was likely.  I figured that if I delighted myself in the Lord, he would give me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4)... I quickly learned that that means He will give me the desires of my heart, as in, making me want what HE wants.  His plan.  He made me happy in my then current situation... and when I completely least expected it, I found myself getting up at 5:30am.  For work.  I love what I am doing now, but to be honest? Just before He moved me, I honestly loved what I was doing then.  Funny how that worked out. 

The new picture:

So, we started our Advent Activities.  You know, on December 1st.  By the 4th day, we finally got to our Tree Trimming Party.  We got the tree up, all the decorations out... I decided I needed to photograph our ornaments because they are all so sentimental to me!  So I was on this level of our tree, getting refocussed to snap a picture and I saw our calendar in the background... the chest with the pictures of Ryan's grandparents... soft lighting, the "Love" ornament on our tree... and well, I don't think that was a Random view since it made me stop.  Catch my breath.  And wait.