December 4th, 2013 by Kim

This is my life. Today is December 2, (the day after the first Advent Sunday) and here I (Kim) am trying to pull all things together for a meaningful Christmas Season for my family. It seems I’m always a day behind (or a week, or a month). It would be easier at this point to say, “next year;  I’ll do something next year” and not stress myself now.  But the reality is that next year will probably be exactly the same as this one.

So I have decided, not to wait, but to go for it, and own the philosophy “ better late than never”.   Because, I’d rather be a little late starting our Advent countdown, than not do it at all.

and because I’d be more mad at myself for letting the days pass focusing on shopping or getting or something else other than on what we need to celebrate.

I don’t know about you, maybe your getting a late start too with Advent, or maybe you didn’t plan it at all. I would love you join me in “better late than never” and decide to do some purposeful things with your family (or for yourself). I believe you won’t regret it.

And so, late last night, December 1, I sent the kids to the basement for the Christmas decorations, hit play on the Christmas music playlist, and we started unpacking a few things. We didn’t finish, or even get started, really.  In fact it looks way worse than when we began.   I think about the photos everyone is putting up on Facebook now of Christmas trees and decorations. And I wonder what kind of comments I would get with my photos.

I have to be ok with this, because this is my life and I’m choosing to do it this way. And I certainly can’t let the comparison of Facebook get me down, or keep me from doing what I can for my family.

We ended our night by watching episode 1 of the BBC, the Nativity (I plan to watch one episode each advent Sunday). It was all I could do. Yes, I wanted more, but I have to have peace with this. And it was very good.

For this Advent season, here at napokonkrasne,  we would like to write something each week about Advent. A reminder. An expectant waiting. Yes, we are already behind, but we are doing it anyway, because even though we don’t have it all together we believe God still wants to bless us!

And so here is my first Advent post:

We love living in Europe. For our family, the last 12 years have been a blessing. Yes, some of those blessings didn’t always look or feel so wonderful, (like one thinks blessings should feel).  However, the reality was always true, it is a blessing.

Having said that, it doesn’t mean there aren’t times that we miss the U.S. We do. In fact, with the holiday season now starting, these are some of the most difficult days to be away from Family. Family. That is the key word.  And for my family  U.S. happens to be synonymous.

And so we have the blessing of sharing in 2 cultures for Christmas traditions, and picking the best from each!  I’m sharing some of those traditions with you today:

• medovníčky-  I still cannot bake cookies like my Slovak friends, but I can enjoy the ones they give us. Not only are they are beautiful but the concept of baking together and sharing with family and friends, is a beautiful tradition we enjoy and want to continue it with our family.

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