Our family has always celebrated and participated in the tradition of Advent.  As a child, counting down the days before Christmas was marked by a chocolate German calendar that held the power of this five-year-old to believe behind each door held a chocolate treat that ushered in the coming of Christmas.  As a child, the lighting of the Advent candles, the tradition of church services planned to honor the season, the personal opening of paper doors to reveal chocolate surprises - all of it held a magical sense of anticipation.

As a young mother, I kept my childhood traditions of Advent alive.  Each season my girls had Advent calendars that we taped to the refrigerator.  Each calendar held its owner's imaginations captive to see what chocolate awaited them on the appointed day of opening.  We incorporated the lighting of the Advent candles in our home and still practice Advent today.

One of my personal preparations for Advent begins with my heart.  I begin reading Luke on the first of December.  I ask  Holy Spirit to show me new revelations on an old story.  He never disappoints.  Never.

This morning I was held captive to a portion of Luke that I had never seen before.  (On a side note, that's the power of reading and building a life around a book that is alive, active, and sharper than a two-edged sword!)  In Luke 1:39 - 45 we discover the power of shared experience.  Mary has an encounter with Gabriel.  Her next response is to run to her cousin, Elizbeth because what the angel told her included Elizabeth.

I love that scripture says she hurried to Elizabeth.  The fact that she put on her proverbial tennis shoes and high tailed it to Elizabeth tells me Mary, young and inexperienced in life, had a maturity of faith.  She took the message that was told to her as truth.  With this truth, she ran to either confirm or rejoice or both with her cousin.

Then, we see another aspect of the role of the Holy Spirit by what happens when Mary bursts through the door of Elizabeth's house.  At just the hearing of her voice, Elizabeth's baby responds and then she is filled with the Holy Spirit.  Spirt recognizes Spirit.

But look what happens as a result of Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Things told in hushed whispers by Gabriel to Mary are now known by Elizabeth.  She knows Mary is blessed  She knows the baby she carries is the long-awaited Messiah - her Lord.  And then she declares a blessing over Mary:  "She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled."

All this occurred before any conversation with words took place.  Sprit seeks Spirit and truth is proclaimed.

Advent is the looking forward to and anticipation of an event.  I'd love to encourage you to put some personal time into preparing your own heart for the Season.  Whatever activity brings peace and hope into this season and draws you closer to the One we anticipate, do it.  I pray you find new treasures in this holiday as you prepare for the magic that is Advent!

If you were to find yourself on my blog page, click on the "Christmas" tab under "Archives" found on the right hand side of your screen, you could read of gifts that we have given our children that have nothing to do with wrapping some box and putting it under a tree.  Instead, we've given them well-crafted "memories" to hold on to long after the tinsel, ribbons, and lights are down.

Alas, this year has been a bust.  We've never had a segregated family.  Having a college student that no longer lives full-time in our home has thrown a kink in my memory gifts.  It makes me sad.  I've wallowed around in this sadness, thinking all the "good years" were gone.  I've sulked.  I've even cried.  Where did all the time go?

NO MORE!!  Yesterday I spent a good portion of the morning at Panera sipping my free vanilla café latte and "catching" up on things.  I read.  I checked and answered emails.  I checked things off lists.  It felt good ... real good.  However, the most productive thing I did occurred prior to all the production.  I sat ... quiet ... and asked this star of the Christmas season ... to show me something I was missing ... or misunderstanding about this time of year.  He never misses an opportunity for such a heart date.  Because it's a relationship that often stirs up things in my inner self that just can't be put into words, I will just share the outcome.  Peace.  I found it.  Among my desire to create memories and build moments I had lost my Peace.

Late yesterday afternoon, walking around in my new Peace, I called a friend for some mundane reason.  What transpired during that ordinary phone call was information regarding an event to bless the elderly who are now considered "home bound" due to poor health.  This was in stark contrast to what I had just minutes before considered as introducing as a Memory Gift.  A local mega church was hosting a Holiday Extravaganza complete with a light show, carriage rides, free cocoa, and expensive give-a-ways as a means to portray the simple birth of a humble Messiah sent to remind the world of their need for a Savior (If I sound sarcastic, good.  It was meant to be.)

A Memory Gift was laid at my lap, at just the right time, for the WHOLE family.  Addison gets home tonight.  This will usher our first memory together.  Again, peace.  We will not go to the mega church's event ... we will gather and sing carols for those most likely to appreciate this gesture ... and we will do so as a family.

Ugh!  This season just begs for us to strive for bigger and better, doesn't it.  When will I learn?  The beauty of this season is to rest in peace and discover the treasures God has for us ... if we just ask ... and wait.

Wow ... still learning,
Christina (already humming carols)

I don't have a Christmas tree.  I'm not spending more than my monthly budget for one gift my child will use and eventually break.  I'm not planning on making homemade fudge.  I don't even know what the little elf everyone posts of Facebook means.  That's it.  I'm a looser Mom at Christmas.

OK ... for the sake of a good read I am stretching my small thoughts to the point of exaggeration ... but not really.  I don't have a Christmas tree because we are in temporary housing.  I feel  bad about it.  I have made paper decorations, hung cheap stockings by a fireplace that we can't work, and bought lots of candles that smell like Christmas in order to make up for it.

I am still sticking to our tradition of getting our children "one" gift and creating memories that will take them into adulthood with lots and lots of moments of reflection.

Fudge. 
The elf. 
It's all too overwhelming!



Momma's buy into lots of lies ... especially at Christmas!  Why can't we be content with who we are, how our family celebrates, how we make our season special just by being who we are? 

Girls.  As I get older this fact emerges ... time. flys. by. too. fast.  Tree's die.  Gifts break.  Fudge molds.  Elves go out of style.  Your children will not remember the hustle you took to create "the perfect" Christmas.  They will remember if you were there ... engaged and mentally aware ... during the season.

Last night it was chili in the den while we watched an old Christmas T.V. show.  It wasn't big.  It was spontaneous.  It was natural and we cuddled on the couch when it was over.  We made a moment.

I'm pretty sure the Mother of Jesus Christ was never featured in a Pinterest Board, Martha Stewart magazine or Food Network Christmas special.  She took the moment as it came - imperfect by earthly standards - and we all still talk about it today!

Relax fellow females.  Breath in the simpleness of the season.  You are who you are supposed to be.  Walk in it!

Christmas joy,
christina

I have so much to tell … to relay … to convey … that one blog post could not possibly contain all that my little heart has experienced since last week’s post: Weekend Gift #3: Memory,

Parker and Addison both having winning basketball games,

Libby’s Christmas play at school, the long goodbye at the airport to my sister, baking, making and wrapping gifts

… it’s just all too much! And, since I’ve imposed upon myself a blog post only once a week, I’ve got to cram it all in to this one post! What’s a girl … a wordy girl at that … to do?

Summarize. And, as thoughts churn around in my head like visions of sugar plums from a fitting seasonal tale, one story keeps rising to the surface that does put a period to the end of the my sentence.

Last May I started meeting once a week with a language partner. She has become a friend. She is a young professional woman who is naturally beautiful, highly intelligent, rides a motorcycle and loves to gather friends. She admittedly has a problem with the politics of religion but seems to be very open to God as evidenced by her willingness and openness to begin reading the Bible with me when we meet.

In December, I proposed that we read in Matthew about the story of Jesus birth. As we read, she made the following statement that has done nothing but bounce around and echo in my heart and soul this holiday season. After reading and discussing about the historical context of the shepherds, their lowly position on the ladder of society, their reputation for being outcasts and possibly the down and out, she made the following comment:

“Don’t you think it was pretty risky of God to give this message of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds?”

Let that sink in for a few minutes. I did. As I did, I kept and keep coming to the following thought:

“Isn’t it pretty risky of God to allow me to share this message of Jesus’ to my world?”

Let that sink in for a few minutes. If you are a believing in Jesus person … insert your name here and ask yourself the same question.

Now, let me paint another picture of how this phrase settles inside me. Just yesterday my sweet Libby was an angel in her school play. She was decked out in her angel costume singing her little heart out “… and man will live forever more, because of Christmas day.”

I got her message. Her smiling face, her joy and enthusiasm, her spunky diva self proudly proclaimed her message. OK. I do admit she was probably pretty enamored by the idea that so many spectators were watching her perform (as evidenced by her, alone, bowing 2 times after the performance!) but her message was received.

No. She isn’t a real angel.
No. Her costume wasn’t authentic.
No. Her halo wasn’t stable, slipping well past her forehead and into her eyes.

But she beautifully illustrated what I’ve been intellectually contemplating by my language partner’s comment. It is a risky move to entrust humans to share the message of a Savior. And that’s the whole point.

Yes. We aren’t perfect.
Yes. We are sometime unauthentic.
Yes. We are sometimes unstable and slip far from the place of making an impact.

But we are chosen. Just as Libby was so proud to play her part as the angel, we who make commitments to follow Jesus have said yes to a call to proclaim this message of hope and peace and life eternal. It is risky. It’s so risky it makes me wonder why spread such a message this way? It’s so risky, it’s crazy. That’s how I know it’s perfect! The greater the risk of me being good at what I’m called to convey, the more God shows up … is seen in my imperfections and slipped halo … and is seen loud and clear.

Wow.

Not sure when I’m gonna post another blog. Immediately following Christmas, we begin our journey to Rembrandtstrasse … our new place. We move out December 28th … which just happens to be my Chris’ 20th wedding anniversary (to me, of course!). Hopefully internet will be up and running … but one never knows.

As you gear up for the main event … take stock of the things that really count … take joy in the fact that God takes risks … and peace in the knowledge that the biggest risk He ever took (sending his holy and perfect son to earth) was designed with you in mind.

God bless you … truly.

Last week, the gift was SIMPLICITY. Having had no time to gather as Elledges, we gathered! The gift was a day of baking Christmas cookies, eating a fun lunch together, watching Polar Express, celebrating Advent and drinking hot cocoa. Simple.

The biggest surprise of the day was my Chris being a creative genius! Who knew! I got to be honest. I’m the creative one … he’s all the other things. Yet, we caught him kneading the cookie dough and cutting out the shapes with such passion … we nearly flipped our Elledge girl lids. Then, if that wasn’t enough, he took such painstaking detail with his gingerbread man you would have thought him to be Michael Angelo painting his fancy roof! But, don’t take my word for it … take a gander at these photos! We just love this man!




This week, the gift was ENTHUSIAM. Before we left the house, Chris pointed out to the girls something he had read the previous day. Paul is writing and telling about the enthusiasm of Timothy … the real joy and enthusiasm he had to share the good news of the truth of Jesus Christ. He pointed out that enthusiasm isn’t a fake joy we try to muster up but rather a deep and deliberate choice to choose to be enthusiastic about the gift we have living inside of us. More on that later …

We presented the girls with an “instruction manual” that led them every step of the way to our final destination … a Weihnachts Dorf (Christmas Village).



As we arrived, they read the last instruction on the manual, the opening of an envelope that contained 10 euro for them to “enthusiastically” spend on the dinner of their choice. Should I tell you that Libby ate potato wedges, a coke and cotton candy for her dinner?

Actually, there we plenty of gifts bestowed on us that we were quite “enthusiastic” about: Addison getting to collect her first Weihnachts (Christmas) mug of the season,


Chris discovering live music,



Parker tasting her first Langos of the winter (Langos is a fried bread dripped with garlic butter …),



me tasting my first Krapfen pretzel … and the weather was unusually warm (38)!



Enthusiasm is something I could use a lot more of … truly. I’ve been reading through the events that led up to the birth of Jesus. I do this every year, trusting that God has something new and fresh for me to hang my hat on during the Christmas season. This year, I’m struck by Mary’s enthusiasm. What did she have to be enthusiastic about? Poor girl … pregnant and not married, misunderstood, almost abandoned by her soon to be hubby … yet … enthusiastic. Wow. Not only “wow” … but why?

Look at her response: “Oh how my soul praises the Lord! For the mighty One is holy and he has done great things for me.” Yes, she says so much more, but these sentences sum up her heart attitude: enthusiasm. It wasn’t based on her circumstances … it was based on a promise!



I’m gonna try to be more enthusiastic … and the only way that is gonna happen is by a deliberate choice to focus on the promises of God … and not my circumstances. Circumstances will always lie … circumstances will always bring me to doubt … circumstances will always steal my joy … and …enthusiasm! Not any more … this girls gonna make a choice … to be … enthusiastic! Enthusiasm defined: it isn’t a fake joy we try to muster up but rather a deep and deliberate choice to choose to be enthusiastic about the gift we have living inside of us.

My sister is making a visit for the first time to my home here in Vienna. I am so thrilled that she is going to be able to see my space, walk through my life, and experience our “normal” that will seem so foreign to her! In keeping with all things that I am … I’ve planned an itinerary for her days … all with the flexibility to ditch the plan if need be. The thing I am most looking forward to is the “being”. The times we spend around the table talking, laughing, joking, and crying. These are the things that will be so endearing in person that phone, emails and Skype cannot clearly convey.

As I’m gearing up for her visit, I’m also gearing up for our annual Elledge Christmas Experiences. Quick cliff notes for those not familiar with this tradition: instead of giving tangible gifts that end up in the bottom of the toy box … or returned … or never used, we chose a very long time ago to give “experiences”. We’ve done big … like a surprise trip to London. We’ve done simple … like nachos and a movie. The girls never know what the “experience” is gonna be. It’s always a surprise. It’s become tradition.

I’ve been racking my brain thinking about what these “experiences” are supposed to be … and I’ve come up with this idea of making every “experience” centered on one word. Tomorrow we are going to “experience” the word: SIMPLICITY. No more on that because Addison checks up on me via the Blog so “mum’s the word. However, next week I’ll fill you in!



And … speaking of simplicity … yesterday I decorated the house for Christmas. I remember days of dragging everything out of the attic and taking days to decorate every inch of the house! We had Christmas trees in every room, light up things from the Avon Christmas collection we had inherited from Chris’ Mom on every shelf, and a huge wooden manger that had to sit on the front porch that my Dad made for me one year. These tokens of my Christmas paraphernalia had special memories. They are all gone now … the tokens not the memories. We have only a small box of ornaments that I drag out of the Keller to hang on the pitiful artificial tree that mostly resembles the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. However, yesterday, as I carefully placed each ornament we’ve collected over the last 20 years of marriage (ok, almost 20 years … Dec. 28 will be our 20th Wedding Anniversary!) on the tree, I was struck by the simplicity of life. If you marked your life by the Christmas ornaments that were collected every year what an interesting tree that would make! I went from the “first Christmas together” ornament that someone inscribed our names on … to baby’s first Christmas ornament from Addison … to Parker’s wreath that features her entire face (kinda creepy) … to Libby’s reindeer she made in Kindergarten. Where has all the time gone?





After decorating the tree, I threw greenery all over the rest of the flat to give it a fun and festive feel. When I was done with the entire process, I had relived many events over 20 years of being a wife and mom … saw visions of my childhood Christmas’ past … and wondered what the next 20 years would bring and who it would add to our Elledge clan of 5. In the end it’s pretty simple: love God + love each other well = SIMPLICITY.

Christmas Experience #2 … was going to be a wonderful stroll in a Christmas Market that a local paper described as “Vienna’s Best Kept Secret”. They had glass blowers, homemade crafts, and local music. The kicker – we didn’t go. Saturday was busy so we opted to do our experience on Sunday. Sunday was cold and we were tired and we had little "umpf” and we … well we just decided to go for Plan B. Plan B was an old black and white film, “The Bishop’s Wife”, nachos and being warm and cuddly in the house. Not so much of a “Wow” factor, but it was all what we needed … and wanted.

Christmas Experience #3 … was a hit. After regaining our “umpf” after last weekend, we picked the girls up from school Friday afternoon and whisked them downtown to an American Movie Theatre for the opening of the third “Narnia” film. I thought about making this blog all about my impressions of the film, however, seeing how that could take a few hundred … thousand words … I’m not going to (did I just hear someone whisper “Thank God”?). I will say (you knew I had to say something about the film) it was, in a word, superb! Despite the 3D glasses making me woozy (I get motion sickness in the elevator so can you imagine what experiencing all the action in 3D did for me!) the movie was just … again … superb! I could go on and on … but there I go again digressing!

The girls were surprised, enjoyed the film, and enjoyed the fact that when we came out of the film, feeling all warm and fuzzy by the various themes each of us applied to our own lives … it was lightly snowing! Ahhhh …

Then, the hunt was one for some street food! Our initial thought was to eat a Kebab … but alas we could not find one in the area. So, we took the U-Bahn (subway) to another station, knowing their Kebab stand would be open only to be disappointed. Traveling to one last Kebab stand, it was open and we all ate for 13 Euro!

As we walked in the snow to the car, eating our sandwiches and freezing our little toes off, I silently hid our evening in my heart. This Christmas will soon fade into the treasury of all Christmas’ past. The girls will go on to have their own adventures with their own families. But, for now, these are the things that make me want to hold every so tightly to the hands of my ladies, hug their little cold bodies longer and look at them for a really long time when they don’t know I’m watching them. These are the gifts they are unknowingly giving me.

I love Christmas.

As I was putting the ornaments on our Christmas tree, I took a little trip. As I hung an ornament, depending on what period of time it represented, I was transported to the past as if I had booked a round trip ticket. So I don’t sound like a character out of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, let me just give you a few examples:

We have this pathetic wooden teddy bear with scribbling on the backside of it. To the uninformed eye it’s a nasty little fragment of Christmas past. To Chris and me, it brings a tear to our eyes … ok to my eyes. When we were in Tucson, Arizona and Addison was 3 years old, we were on a very … VERY … tight budget. We decided that year to only give gifts to each other that we found at Goodwill. (I know this sounds pathetic but give it a few more sentences – it does get better!). Addison and I found this cute little teddy bear ornament for Chris and she “wrote” how much she loves her Daddy on the backside. Now, 12 years later, it doesn’t matter that it came from Goodwill … to us it’s priceless.

There are countless wreaths, a giant rocking horse and an angel with a head way too small for her huge body all made from paper. Some are laminated and some are not. Each one bears either the artistic expression or photo of a toothless grin from one of our daughter’s. Again, all priceless in my book.

Then, there is the ceremonial “Our first Christmas” ornament with the date 1991 paying tribute to Chris and me beginning our family. Along with that one are several others we acquired from a rag-tag group of youth that we had the privilege of knowing before marrying. Each one brings to mind the face of the person who gave it … forever keeping them a teenager although they are all grown adults with families of their own.
I just love the sappy and gushy part of this season. Funny how any ornament I acquire this year will hold a round-trip ticket down memory lane for years to come … I just don’t know it yet!

So … tomorrow is Christmas Experience #2. I won’t spill the beans because I have smart cookies for daughters and they will sneak a beak at the blog and my surprise will go down the drain along with my giddiness of keeping all these experiences surprises. You’ll just have to wait … but please don’t think it will top London. Let’s just make one thing clear … London was over the top, once in a life time, bigger than life and any other “big” quotes you can think of … BUT, despite the WOW factor, tomorrow will be a sweet memory none the less. You’ll just have to wait and see …

I’m gonna just cut right to the case ... we took our girls to London yesterday. It was a day trip, waking up at 4:30 a.m. to catch a 7:00 a.m. flight returning at 11:00 p.m. last night. We kept it a surprise and sprung it on them once we arrived at the airport. Keeping it a surprise was no small undertaking. They asked questions, peeked into my purse (no names, PARKER!), and harassed friends – but to no avail!

Many years ago we decided to quit giving gifts to the girls. The grounds for this was for no spiritual conviction … we are just plain cheap! Not really, but kinda! We’ve been blessed w/wonderful and giving relatives, namely grandparents, who generously give to our girls. Because of limited resources, we were giving gifts that ended up in the bottom of the toy box or the give-a-way sack a year later. So, in a stroke of genius, one of the parents in this family (clear my throat to signal a hint that is was me) came up with the idea of giving “experiences” … and thus a tradition was birthed.

Every weekend in December, that’s exactly what we do – give experiences and the London trip was the kick-off for this season!

We did a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of London which took us to all the highlights there are to see in the old town. You name it, we saw it yesterday:

The London Eye,
Buckingham Palace,
Big Ben (Bus guide: “Can anyone tell me what time it is?” Chris: (looking at his watch) “12:10 pm, sir.” Bus guide: “Thanks.” (looking up at Big Ben). For those of you not up with your London trivia, Big Ben is the biggest clock like in … the world!
Westminster Abbey,
Tower Bridge,
Tower of London,
London Bridge (thank God it wasn’t falling),
Trafalgar Square,
St. Paul’s Cathedral,
Horse Guard’s Parade,

And a lot of other places … like the place Princess Dianna wed Prince Charles which also happens to also be the place that the old woman fed the pigeons in the film Mary Poppins. Speaking of pigeons, they carry over 90 diseases and so the city of London had to do something about the pigeon population at Trafalgar square. I don’t know what they did … (makes you wonder) but I didn’t see any pigeons in Trafalgar square yesterday. Hmmm … sounds shady to me.

Anyway, yesterday was an awesome day. One that will go down in the memory books of our heads and hearts. It was the stuff that memories are made of … one that I won’t soon forget.

P.S. If you are a praying to Jesus person, the reason we went to London was for VISA purposes. You may ask privately what that is all about … but suffice it to say we’d appreciate your prayers for a VISA miracle in January.