A new spin on advent

I love this time of year. Thanksgiving dinner, the start of Advent. This year I had so many plans....a Jesse tree, an advent calendar, St. Nicholas day, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy's feast day, a Los Posadas feast, Christmas, caroling, crafts, the Epiphany. In fact, I ordered 22 books from the library 5 weeks ago to do an advent unit study based on Tomie de Paola's wonderful books. I have crafting supplies and ideas for nearly every day of December. It was going to be such a wonderful, cuddly, time to grow in the faith with the kids. We were really going to prepare for the birth of the savior, and then came THE MOVE. I am a stressed, the kids are stressed, but we are toughing it out. I sat wondering how I can make the Jesse Tree ornaments, how long unpacking will take, what supplies/gifts I should buy now or wait on.....and then a friend gave me a thought to ponder... She observed that we will draw so close to the Holy Family as we travel this season, just like they did. As they searched for a place to stay and readied that stable as best they could...so will we. We get to LIVE advent, in a way. What a blessing friends are. They help keep us inspired and focused on what really matters. And so my challenge and prayer will be to keep my family focused on the Holy Family this season. Not in all the ways I had prepared, but in ways I had not. And if by God's grace will get settled quickly, maybe some of the activities will happen anyway. And if not, I have a list of 22 books and supplies for next year.