Stepping into Advent

Yesterday was the start of Advent. No, this is not our advent wreath - ours is currently in a box and will only be unpacked after Thursday. Yip - this is move week - again! The second move in 10 months. I have to say that I am finding moving an hour away more stressful than the many thousands of miles we crossed to get here in January of this year. Oh well, this time will pass. When I feel all unsettled like I do at the moment, I just picture my life in 4 years time and see our family all rooted and established within our community. By that time we will be British citizens and all this craziness will be in the past. I often liken our family to the early pilgrims. Leaving all they knew in England, then Holland, for a new world. A world that they knew nothing about, a world that would prove to demand great courage and sacrifice. Next year, I feel we will be able to sit down together at Thanksgiving, and truly be able to look back on this adventure of a life time with fond memories and in a bit more of an organised fashion than this year! This year it was - 'Oh, today is Thanksgiving' - as we sat eating Macaroni Cheese and salad -lol.

However disorganised I may feel in my heart and home at this very point in time, I have planned a fun month of activities for us as we mark advent through December. We might not 'step' into advent gracefully - to be honest it feels like we will be tripping and stumbling into Advent - but enter we will ;o)

See - here's proof -lol.

One of the things on my list of fun, is to finally do the Jesse Tree this advent. I have wanted to do this for at least 2 years now. I had grand ideas of making each little decoration ourselves after having seen all those super crafty moms blogs that you see - envy -wanna emulate- but know in your heart there is no way you will get it done! So 2 years go by with nothing getting done, this year I figured that someone else has already done it, provided the materials, so best I just use whats available if I want to ACTUALLY do the Jesse Tree with my children. LOL - the pressure we put ourselves under - why, why, why?

If you live in the UK - you can grab your Jesse Tree at the above address

So, just at the right moment, Rainbow Books - here in the UK - lets us all know that they have just received the Jesse Tree and that they are available for purchase. I did not need a 2nd invitation! I was there - ordered, paid for and dispatched all in one fowl swoop!

Symbols on the front - scripture on the back of each ornament.

 This morning, the postman knocked on my front door and handed me my Jesse Tree ornaments - yay!

Aren't they pretty?

So, even though we are moving on the 1st December - we will make time to wander into the woodland that surround our new little house, pick out a branch for our tree and place our first ornament. It will provide a welcome break from unpacking ;o)

As we walk through advent, I will share some of the things we will do that I hope will help keep us grounded as to the true meaning of Christmas and keeping our hearts at home.

May you all experience a very blessed and peace filled advent.