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Refocusing the Heart – Sow The Heart: One Story at a Time
Heart And Manger Scene

Refocusing the Heart


Happy 1st Day of Advent… has your frenzy begun? The shopping, the ordering, the gift wrapping, the Christmas parties, the baking….all the ingredients we use to cook up thirty days of insanity leaving us feeling depleted and drained.

Are you looking for ways to get through the holidays peacefully? Many of us are. That’s why I have joined in on a book discussion of The Advent Conspiracy. It’s about doing Christmas differently, more reverently and less chaotically.  Putting the real meaning back into the holiday is what it is all about.

When our group met at the Lightner Library at the United Methodist Church in Bel Air  last week, one person pointed out the media would have us believe gift giving is some kind of competition and we will not win the hearts of others if we don’t keep up or exceed what others are doing. Christmas has become one big circus. We forget it’s about the birth of a baby boy, born with extraordinary vision for the world, in a stable in Bethlehem in ancient times. The holiday has become about over the top gift-giving like we are celebrating our own day of birth.

Some of us in my big extended family are trying to reconcile how to do Christmas differently and simply. Those at the head (matriarch and patriarch) recently both passed on. How do we sow seeds for new Christmas traditions as a growing family since we are becoming more spread out and at the same time refocus our hearts on the holiday with balanced values? This I pondered last year, too, and am still trying to come to grips with. I feel optimistic the answers will come, it’s just a matter of slowing down, being receptive to a change of traditions and listening for direction.

You, too, can join in on the Advent Conspiracy, if you feel you and your family need to make some needed changes to move your heart closer to the real meaning of Christmas. Here is how.

Scroll down, and you will see how I will be spending the Advent Season…

Can you believe the year 2020 is coming up? A New Year, a new decade! Ever since I entered the media world as a blogger and writer ten years ago, I have taken about a two-week hiatus each year through the holidays. This year it will be a little different. I am dedicating a whole month to quietly observing the holy season and to the renewal of spirit. My goal is to silently listen. How will God guide and provide the next steps in my writing career?

Merry Christmas to You and to Yours.

 

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