Stumbled upon your space here and love what you've shared...the traditions you are cultivating with your wife and family are beautiful! My oldest children, 21 and 19, are away at college and some of their fondest memories of home are tied to the advent traditions we started many years ago ... creating clay ornaments to hang on a wooden tree my husband built, reading poems every day of advent, admiring fine art, opening St. Nicolas Day stockings, waiting in the dark watching the candles grow brighter and brighter...moving the wise men to the manger on epiphany... So many rich, sacred moments have formed their souls in ways I never would have thought possible all those years ago. So often we were going against the tide and it took all our strength and resolve to keep this sacred time despite the noise of the world crowding in. And now, when they come home in the winters, they are still rooted to these traditions and can (Lord willing) return to their spaces with a sense of renewal and hope.
Melissa, thank you so much for your kind words and thoughtful encouragement. As a young-ish couple, it means so much to us to hear about the intentional traditions of others and how they have born much fruit in peoples lives. Good job swimming against the tide. Happy New Year and Happy Epiphany to you as well!
Stumbled upon your space here and love what you've shared...the traditions you are cultivating with your wife and family are beautiful! My oldest children, 21 and 19, are away at college and some of their fondest memories of home are tied to the advent traditions we started many years ago ... creating clay ornaments to hang on a wooden tree my husband built, reading poems every day of advent, admiring fine art, opening St. Nicolas Day stockings, waiting in the dark watching the candles grow brighter and brighter...moving the wise men to the manger on epiphany... So many rich, sacred moments have formed their souls in ways I never would have thought possible all those years ago. So often we were going against the tide and it took all our strength and resolve to keep this sacred time despite the noise of the world crowding in. And now, when they come home in the winters, they are still rooted to these traditions and can (Lord willing) return to their spaces with a sense of renewal and hope.
If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend Malcom Guite's Waiting of the Word poetry collection. https://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Word-Advent-Christmas-Epiphany/dp/1848258003
Happy New Year to you and yours!
Melissa, thank you so much for your kind words and thoughtful encouragement. As a young-ish couple, it means so much to us to hear about the intentional traditions of others and how they have born much fruit in peoples lives. Good job swimming against the tide. Happy New Year and Happy Epiphany to you as well!