Did You Light Your Advent Candles?

We almost didn't!

After a busy Sunday, near bedtime, I realized that we had forgotten The Wreath. Then Leila's Heads Up! flitted across my Google Reader:

I think that Christian families can begin to transform the world just by celebrating this season simply and with great trust.
...
Just live it, year in and year out, with all your faith and love. Don't worry about having things be just so -- it's useful to remember that young children are entranced by just about everything, especially if it involves candlelight, and that gives you time to get your act together!

So I jumped from the sofa, found the plain brass ring, and set the two-year-old to tearing cellophane from candles. We turned off the lights and sang O Come Emmanuel.

It was an offkey, imperfect family moment and, dare I say it, full of wonder, too?

THIS is why I value Leila's counsel so highly. While the rest of us are crafting and planning our way into exhaustion, Like Mother, Like Daughter balances long-term goals with a dose of common sense. Frankly, we could all use more of that this season.

Advent, Day One: we did it!

Our Advent Plan

Thanks to crazy nesting hormones, all my Christmas gifts have been bought, wrapped, shipped or hidden in closets. Let's hope this leads to a peaceful Advent season!

I found a free PDF copy of Family Advent Customs by Helen McLaughlin (1954, copyright the Order of St. Benedict.)

November 28: First Sunday of Advent
Make Advent wreath to begin the season. I found a package of Advent candles at Hobby Lobby for $2. The kids can clip greenery and poke sprigs into an Oasis foam ring for freshness.

December 5/6: Second Sunday of Advent
I'm not baking this year, so we'll be buying a package of Speculaas for the Feast of St. Nicholas on Dec. 6. Discount grocer Aldi sells a delicious version for $2.

December 8: The Immaculate Conception
We have a vintage Mary statue which we will place in the center of our Advent wreath to mark this feast. There is a separate baby Jesus which can be added to her arms at the end of Advent.

December 12: Third Sunday of Advent
Last year we waited to decorate the tree, but with baby coming after Christmas, I feel the pressure to put it up earlier. Elise can probably clip the last pink Knockout roses for the table, with a nod to the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on this same day.

December 19: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Any ideas for this week?

December 24: Christmas Eve
I have visions of a candlelight walk to place the baby in the garden manger, a la Tasha Tudor.

December 25: Brunch for family and morning Mass.

3 Prayers Our Priest Taught Us

Last week Jen asked if we can tell what people worship by what's on their walls. We're still bowing down to birds and fish if that's the case; however, we've come a long way in feeling Catholic in our own home.

We began 3 practices this year at the suggestion of our priest. He has been such a patient teacher to me.

Each time Father M. gets in my car to visit the homebound, he makes a point of saying the Guardian Angel prayer out loud. Embarrassed that I no longer remembered it from childhood, I taped a card to my dash so the kids and I could say it together in the driveway.

Father M. closes each bedside visit with the Memorare. This quickly became my "go to" prayer for surviving a struggling mom day. It's a beautiful piece of writing, for one, but unlike a private confession, the children see me ask for mercy while admitting that "before Thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful."

Finally--and this has been the toughest one--he asked me to pray the whole Rosary with the children every night.

At first I rebelled. Has he ever tried 20 minutes of meditation with kids at the bedtime hour? But his mother did, and by doing so faithfully, all her children absorbed the prayers and life story of Jesus without even trying.

Do we pray it perfectly? Pretty much never. The neighbors still hear whining and crying from our open windows, but at least, in a few moments of peace, my house sounds like Catholics live here.

Mater and Magistra Advent Ideas

The fall issue of Mater et Magistra: Educating the Heart and Mind in the Catholic Home, is available on free PDF. Lots of good articles about Advent and beyond.

Holy Poverty

Father S. of the Clerical Reform blog shares a thoughtful post in a series on voluntary poverty.

Even if we're not bound by the same vow, I like the questions he asks when he is tempted to purchase something. Especially now, when the Black Friday ads and holiday decorations beckon...

Empathy and Insulin

Be careful what you ask for...you might have to give yourself insulin shots!

Twice weekly visits, tweaking dosages, scrutinizing the carbs in every mouthful--it's harder than I hoped, but worth it.

The very best thing was the simple acknowledgement of the specialist. "You've been walking THAT much? And eating just this? You must be hungry and tired all the time."

Why yes! Why yes I have! Even without medicine, that little bit of empathy made me feel better immediately. Someone understood.

In the Legion of Mary, we visit sick people every week, but we're restricted to the spiritual works of mercy, understanding, as Mother Teresa pointed out, that loneliness is the greatest poverty. This can be downright frustrating for a practical do-er like me. How am I supposed to talk when someone is clearly hurting, let alone encourage them to offer up their suffering while they're at it?

This experience reminds me that empathy is powerful medicine, too.

(Thanks again to everyone who left such encouraging comments on the previous post!)

27 weeks and counting...

I've spent the last two months walking. I leave all blogworthy thoughts in the driveway with the stroller.

Gestational diabetes is my pregnancy cross. This time, I've controlled it by sheer force of will: no fruit, milk, starch or sugar, plus walking 3 miles after every meal. Oh, and keeping up with the other 3 kids.

I've worn myself out. I should be sharing about some spiritual fruit that's sustained me during this fast, but honestly, I've been trudging along, feeling lonely.

Catch 22: my numbers have been so excellent that the doctor doubted that I have gestational diabetes at all. "Maybe you should just stop checking your sugar for a few weeks."

"Hello!" I retorted in tears. "The reason they look so good is that I'm dying over here!"

She called this morning with the results of my 1-hour tolerance test: so high that I don't need to take the 3-hour version. It was a sweet moment of I told you so. But now, I must push away the kids' Halloween bucket and head to the park.

Maybe tomorrow I can tell you how all this walking has made me the neighborhood poster child for Catholics having one kid more than will fit in the stroller.