Site Title

I am a revert to Catholicism.  I strayed sometime during my latter years in high school.  My parents worked very hard seven days a week to keep food on the table so church was not a high priority for them.  They tried to get us to church for mass every Saturday, but often fell short.  Then, when I was able to drive, I sort of stopped going.  In college, I started a slow trek back to Catholicism.  It often went more like one step forward and two steps back. 

I started attending church on a regular basis after I married.  The ceremony itself was not as sacred to me as it should have been.  It was the wedding not the sacrament that seemed more important.  The importance of religion in my life all started to change when I became pregnant with my son.  My journey in spirituality has been slow going and has only recently been spurred forward rapidly.  I have homeschooling to thank for that.  The path I have chosen out of necessity for my autistic child has led me here to this point. 

All of this to start talking about Advent at my home.  Advent to me was the four weeks leading up to Christmas.  That’s it.  I only knew that we lit the candles at mass.  I didn’t understand why we had 3 purple and one pink.  Now I do.  My oldest is 8.  For years, the emphasis was on the presents.  These past three years, I’ve been trying to get the emphasis on the birth of Jesus.  We do the Advent wreath.  It has helped us to center our thoughts on the "reason for the season".  There have been so many good ideas floating in my head from all the different blogs that my head was spinning.  After reading Amy’s post, I realized that I just need to take the time do something that will make an impact on my children.  So, they do not remain lost as I did for so many years.

I don’t blame my parents.  They did the best they could under the circumstances.  Now, I want to make sure I do the best and teach my children all about the beauty of Advent starting with the wreath and then moving on to our newest activity this year–the Jesse tree.