1st December 2018

It's Advent Sunday tomorrow so that can mean only one thing- daily blogging! 

Even now I'm not entirely sure what my daily pattern will be this Advent but I will carry on last year's ritual of each day writing down something that makes me joyful, something which I'm thankful for and something which l feel helpless about. Whatever your belief system this is a useful way to evaluate and reflect upon your day.

Today I felt joyful making chutney, I'm thankful two members of my family made up after an argument and I felt helpless that as my kids grow up I can't solve their problems any more.

Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll know what my Advent journey might look like!

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Isaiah 43.4

Time

I would so love to be able to complete today's task, but I'm too busy! It feels like an excuse, but I'm spread so thinly I don't know how I could even begin to think about sparing time.
Today I took the children to school, wrote a 1500 word essay, took part in the work Christmas quiz (ok, that was a lot of fun) and wrote prayers for tomorrow morning's service. That's a pretty normal day!
I've written before about being "time poor" and not feeling like we're giving enough time to certain things or people can result in a lot of guilt. We're just trying our best, and God knows that.

Love came down at Christmas

Pondering what Christmas means to me is quite an interesting undertaking as after getting home late I've just been reading up on "incarnation theology" ready for finishing my Christmas carol assignment tomorrow. Right now, with an academic head on, Christmas means the mystery of the incarnation, of God made flesh. With my nostalgic head on, it means family, children, togetherness, music and feasting, but the reason for all this is Jesus, and the reason why Jesus was born is love. Christmas means love.

Balance

The task for today was to clear out a room (or space or cupboard) and give away the things you cleared. Of course I didn't quite achieve this! I did plan how I am going to tidy my dining room and what I'll do the the things currently in it!!
I also made more preserves, apple and rosemary jelly today. This means I've cleared out my jar store and I will be giving away all the preserves I've made as Christmas gifts.
The rest of the day was spent reading in preparation for college tonight where we looked at 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians- Interpreting scripture doesn't come easy to me, especially in a classroom environment. Part of what we looked at tonight concerned getting hung up on details rather than concentrating on the bigger picture of God's universal love. We get hung up on the rules, losing sight of what really counts.
I get hung up on the details when it comes to my training rather than the bigger picture of "formation" into (hopefully) a priest. I worry I'm not getting it "right" but then I feel that way about most areas of my life. I want to be the best version of myself, the person God sees I can be, but a big part of that is to do with balance and finding the right balance probably takes a lifetime to learn.