My Sister and an Advent Calendar

Growing up, my family had a little advent calendar made of simple materials: felt, sequens, velcro, etc. Each day, we'd go into a little pocket associated with the day of the month and pull out one more character or object pertaining to the Nativity. For instance, one day we might pull out a sheep, the next one of the Wise Men, the next Joseph, etc.

For 24 days throughout December, my two sisters and I would anxiously see what the next character of the Nativity would be. Bit by bit, the scene would come together. Finally, on Christmas Eve, we would always pull out of the pocket marked "24" a little babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes--Jesus Christ.

I'll never forget one year, though, where the tradition took a drastic, yet very symbolic turn.

Emily, who is four years younger than me, kept on getting really aggravated every night. She wanted to skip ahead every single night. She seemingly wanted it to be Christmas Eve, NOW. Not in 24 days or in a couple weeks, NOW. My parents had to keep on telling her she had to wait, and that we had to put the characters up in order.

Eventually, something sunk in, and honestly made us all feel really dumb. I don't remember her exact words, but Emily at some point commented that she just really wanted Jesus to be hanging up already. The shepherds and angels were all great, and the animals were always fun to hang up on the calendar, but somehow my little sister knew better than the rest of her family what Christmas was really all about. The calendar to her seemed pretty pointless if Jesus wasn't centered in the scene.

Ever since, Baby Jesus is on our wall by December 1st.

Where is Christ in your December? The wise men brought gifts to Christ, the shepherds spent time gathering their flocks, Joseph and Mary travelled from inn to inn until finally settling with a stable. We, too, buy nice gifts for our loved ones. We, too, often spend a lot of time gathering family, decorations, traditions, or whatever it may be. We, too, might go from place to place to find some nice relaxing way to spend the holiday. But, in the end, whether we are in year 0 or year 2012, it doesn't mean a whole lot if we don't have Jesus up first.