Christmas Preparations for the soul

So, as I may have said before, Advent is a time of preparation. The most important part of this preparation is of the heart. As Catholics we are supposed to do good works of some kind. While I have always hoped and intended to, most times I become distracted by the more superficial preparations and the most we do is put together some bags of toys to give away. This year a mom in our homeschool group arranged for a group to take Christmas cards to a nursing home and we were able to participate. This was a first for my kids.

It began with mass production of cards...

  Here are some of my favorites.

Translation: Santa on the left, girl sleeping on the right smiling, the card reads: Merry Christmas, shhhh.
Ironically, we don't do "Santa" at our house. What I mean is, we tell the true story of St. Nicholas and we have gone to see "St. Nicholas" but try to ultimately focus on the birth of Christ.

Santa flying over houses, ho ho ho.

 

So after the first 10 cards or so had reindeer and elves on them, I asked casually if they remembered what Christmas was really about. After that I got this...

The Eldest starts making "Find this..." cards. A little mental exercise for the elderly. Hope they are up for it. This says "find the sheep (you know, Shepherds, sheep? ok we are getting closer...) bonus points for finding the wolf that is stealing the sheep." Well, ok, getting warmer.

So on Sunday afternoon, we bundled up and ventured out into the FREEZING cold all the while I am saying to myself  "for the eldery and for Jesus, f..f..ff..for the elderly, and f..f..ffor J..J...J..esus" It's f..f..ffreezing.

So, it was all worth it though. The elderly loved it. We passed out cards....

sang Christmas carols...

 concentrating a little too hard on "Jingle Bells", in retrospect. That's the anal-retentive musician for you.

We saw some old friends too.

I just thought this next picture was hilarious. What I was thinking about is how nice it was for this dad to come all the way out here on a Sunday, dress up in this suit and make some little kids really happy, really. What it looks like is how I feel about Santa in general. 

The Queen, on the side felt the same way. She kept huddling up to me saying, "I am NOT going over there to talk to Santa!" Anyway, a lot of other little kids were made to be very happy.


And I am so grateful for the experience, it was priceless. something that is hard to find around Christmas time.

God bless the rest of your Advent season. May it be full of joyful anticipation for the coming of Christ.