It’s the third week of Advent! This year, that also means it’s practically the last week of Advent. There will be a fourth ‘week’, which consists of one day, Sunday 24 December. It’s always a little sad when Advent is short, but we won’t let that us stop us from having a wonderful third/last week of this lovely season. This week, it’s all about joy.
Light the pink candle and sing gaudete
If you’re doing an Advent wreath, this is the week of the pink candle, which represents joy. It’s traditionally a day that was full of the joy of anticipation: Christ is coming! Christmas is coming! Get excited folks!
This week, let’s find ways to focus on joy. I know things get hectic as we head towards Christmas. Work gets frantic as we try to wrap things up before the holidays. There is last minute shopping, with all the mad carparks and crowds. There’s a flurry of baking and preparing for the feast. Let’s not mention all the invitations to parties, end of year events and children’s concerts. Amid all this, it’s easy to feel disgruntled, stressed and not at all joyful.
Put on some happy music. Finish decorating the house. Go for walk! And make space to be intentionally joyful.
Intentionally seek joy
Christmas can be hard for lots of reasons. Mourning a loss, financial stress, homesickness or loneliness can all play their part. Expectations that we will feel naturally buoyant at this time also don’t help. Maybe this year looks different to other Christmases, in a bad way. That’s okay. Life has seasons. You don’t have to force a Christmassy vibe. However, I’m sure there were bright moments over the last twelve months. Go looking for them, and I’m sure they’ll be there for you.
So let’s be intentional! Each day, find time to reflect on the things that bring you joy. Go back to your annual review and think about joy. What things happened this year that brought you joy? In what way have you brought joy to others this year? What about this season of Advent is joyful for you? What are you looking forward to about Christmas, holidays and the new year?
How you do this reflection is entirely up to you. You could write it down, talk about it as a family or even scrapbook it out. Maybe you want to talk to God about the joyful things you’re grateful for. Do it all at once, or each day this week.
The main point is to reflect. There are so many joyful things, if we take the time to think about them. Not only is this guaranteed to cheer us up, but it’s also going to make us more grateful. And when the SUV who stole your parking spot can make you feel like the world is ending, putting that in perspective is very needed.
[…] It’s pretty self explanatory, but if you don’t cram your calendar full of activities and ‘to dos’, you have space to meet what life throws at you. This week, we ended up having some illness, sleepless nights and some emotional times (probably linked to that lack of sleep). Not a lot of peace! It was in no way ideal. It certainly didn’t line up with my plans for a really focused prayer life in this last full week of Advent. […]