Since Advent is a time to anticipate with hope and yearning for the greatest gift of all, the child Jesus, it reminds me of the same feeling of anticipation we experienced as children when we would plan our roadtrips to visit our grandparents in northern Mexico. The joy of preparing and planning was as much a part of the experience as finally arriving at our destination. On these pilgrimages (as my mother would call them) my brothers and sisters and I would sing songs, tell jokes, sleep and look out the car window at all the beautiful landscapes we encountered as we made our way up and down the Sierra Madre Mountains. It took us three days to arrive at my grandparents’ house because we also would stop and visit uncles, aunts and cousins who lived along the way.
When Tony and I married, we had to discuss how we would manage the scheduling of family time during the special holidays, since our extended families had grown to include possible travel to another country. After prayerful discernment, we decided together that we would take turns visiting each set of grandparents during the Advent and Christmas seasons.
As you begin your holiday preparations this year, take some time together with your spouse to be intentional in your celebrations.
Perhaps you may wish to begin your own family traditions at this time. Tony and I decided to start our own family traditions since my parents lived far away. We also wanted to take advantage of the different opportunities for charitable works that were present in our own community. Those intentional traditions resulted in wonderful family memories.
One year for Christmas, we adopted another family struggling in less fortunate circumstances and chose to have our own family Christmas be simple. Our children learned to appreciate the true meaning of
Christmas when they saw the joy of other children, less fortunate, receiving the gifts that they might have received that year. Another year, I focused our Advent preparation time on visiting nursing homes with the children, which became a yearly tradition.
Thus, we began our own family traditions of focusing on bringing joy to another. We found that the anticipation of Christmas Day takes on a renewed sense of wonder and awe through the eyes of others who reciprocate their good intentions and joyful moods.