Advent 2009

Advent candles mark our journey

as we prepare for the coming of Christ

Emma lighting the first advent candle

"In the beginning when God created

the heavens and the earth..."

Genesis 1:1

Our Advent Wreath

This year we are using a little booklet called "The Messengers for the Messiah" by Peter Mead as inspiration for our family advent devotions and candle lighting. Each day we gathering to pray and meditate on a different messenger (someone or something that points us to Jesus). Based on the themes in Mead's booklet, we will light five candles over the coming weeks. Today we lit the CREATION CANDLE: throughout this week we will be thinking about the ways that God communicates with us through creation.

We're decking the halls and trimming our tree

On Saturday, we had a wonderful rainy day at home decorating for Christmas. Since moving to Kenya, Christmas has become an important link to our memories and experiences of life in Canada. For some reason, the smoke of a fire and smell of apple cider steaming on the stove help us feel connected to a long a deep past.

New Traditions

Along with the old, we are incorporating new traditions into our Kenyan Christmas celebrations. One of our favorites has been making our own wrapping paper. We gather all the old markers, crayons, and coloured pencils together and start drawing and colouring our images of winter and Christmas on old newsprint and flip chart pads. The real fun is just sitting together and joking around with our kids.

A little masterpiece!