A Simple Advent Plan

...because, really, that is all that I can handle.

I am at the stage of my life where I no longer have young children at home.  I have five adult children ~ four of whom no longer live in our home ~ and two teens.  They are busy with their own lives.  They work, attend classes, have husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends, as well as homes, friends, dogs ~ and in one case, a child ~ of their own.  I never wanted to be that mama (or mother-in-law) who insisted that they must spend every holiday with us and carry on every tradition.  Some of my children love all of the traditions, some can take them or leave them, and some would probably rather leave them (sniff).  But that is alright.  They are building lives, homes, families, and traditions of their own.  Of course, they are always welcome here; they know that, and I try plan so that those who wish to participate are able to.

This year the best plan seems to be to focus on one or two special activities each Sunday during Advent, and invite all who are interested to join us.

• First Sunday, 29 November ~ we didn't do anything.  Everyone had been here on Thanksgiving and had drawn names for Christmas gift-giving.  We celebrated our older son's 18th birthday on Monday. I did finally get the Advent candle set up on Thursday.

• Second Sunday, 6 December ~ Saint Nicholas Day!  The three children still living at home will awaken to orange rolls for breakfast.  They will find chocolate coins, a mandarin orange, and new pjs in their stockings.  After church I will provide a light lunch, some treats, and hot cocoa, and we will decorate our stockings (while watching the Seahawks game;).  

• Third Sunday, 13 December ~  put up the tree and lights; maybe a trip to Main Street Bethlehem in the evening.

• Fourth Sunday, 20 December ~ Christmas baking.  That night there is a free Christmas concert featuring choirs from 10 different local churches; this is one of the very few must-dos on my personal Advent list.

Thirteen

There is just something about the beginning of a new calendar year; isn't there?  It seems natural to take a fresh look at things; rework schedules and routines; make changes.  I don't want to look all the way to the end of this year, but I have come up with a list of 13 things that I would like to accomplish during the first 13 weeks of 2013 (ending the day before Easter, so I am already 1 week in.):

1. pray through the Psalms
2. memorize Psalm 119:1-48 ~ I have been wanting to memorize Psalm 119 for several years; this year I am committing to it ~ 4 verses a week!
3. lose 20 pounds
4. choose, begin, and complete 1 sewing project ~ I was given a sewing machine for Christmas!
5. finish the cross stitch that my daughter gave me for Christmas
6. get rid of 13 boxes/bags of clutter
7. have 6 dates with my husband
8. have 1 day of solitude
9. write 13 notes/letters
10. read 3 books
11. do 3 craft projects with my 10yo daughter
12. put 5% of each paycheck into savings
13. learn about the Daily Examen and begin to practice it

What's in a day

I am always thinking about schedules or rather routines.  I have learned that having the perfect routine will not solve all of my problems, especially the problem of sticking with it, but I think a lot about it anyway.  Here is what I am currently aiming at for our mornings this summer:

• I usually wake up around 5:30.  I go downstairs, put the kettle on, and settle down to begin my morning prayers.  When the kettle boils I pour my tea and then head out for my morning walk.  After my walk, I fix my tea and toast and sit down with my Bible and journal.  I am currently reading through and meditating on Psalm 119.  After this I tidy up around the house, think about supper, and then usually get on the computer.

• Around 8:30 I take my 17yo daughter to work & grab anything we need from the grocery store.  I need to wake up the younger kids as we head out, so that when I get back we can: go to the pool (M,W,F) or have Morning Time (T,Th), followed by copywork and math, and then lunch & read alouds.

• This brings us to about 1:00, when I want to have some quiet time before I have to leave for work at 1:45.

• Except on Fridays, when I don't have to work.  I want to start doing some art activities on Friday afternoons, and maybe have a special treat also.

This is my ideal.  Of course, it gets off-track when I have to take my son to LEGO camp or my daughter to a babysitting job or something else unexpected comes up, but having it written out should help me.

Plans for this week

Monday~

• veg out on the computer all day - check.

Tuesday~ my last all day at home weekday for the forseeable future :(

• special teatime with Luke - check.
• call Salvation Army to schedule pickup - check.
• spend limited time on the computer working on lesson plans for HQ
• spend majority some of the day cleaning & decluttering - check.
• make meal plan & shopping list - check.
• pizza for kids' dinner - check.
• date with hubby - check.

Wednesday~

• grocery shopping - check.
• work - check.
• twelfth night - didn't do anything.

Thursday~

• Epiphany/Three Kings Celebration - most likely postponed until Saturday
• work - check.

Friday~

• work on lesson plans for HQ (left over from Tuesday)
• work

Saturday~

• put things out for Salvation Army 
• pack away Christmas things
• more decluttering & cleaning
• try to get everything found, organized, and ready to go for next week

Word for 2011

~my thoughts are the purple italic; definitions from dictionary.com~

 con·tent² (accent on the 2nd syllable)

–adjective

1.satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.  
~i want to be satisfied with what God has given me: husband, children, home, finances, gifts, abilities, opportunities, etc.

2.British . agreeing; assenting. 
~i want to agree with Him about His will for my life

3.Archaic . willing. 
~i want to be willing to do His will as he reveals it to me

–verb (used with object)

4.to make content: These things content me.
~i want to make myself content before Him

–noun

5.the state or feeling of being contented; contentment: His content was threatened.

~i want this to be my state 

at first, i did not want this to be confused with the more common pronunciation of the spelling:

con·tent¹ (accent on the 1st syllable)

 but then i  read this definition: 

–noun

3.significance or profundity; meaning: a clever play that lacks content.

and it seemed to fit as well. 

~i do not want want my days to lack content, that is, significance or meaning.  

this happens all too often as i am slothful and tend to let things happen around me and then bemoan my time wasted, which leads me to be discontented

The LORD brought this passage of scripture to me as i was prayerfully considering this, and i want to meditate on it regularly.

   

⁶ But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

      “ He has dispersed abroad,

      He has given to the poor;

      His righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰ Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹ while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. (2 Corinthians 9:6-11, New King James Version)

Links for Lent (a little late)

What? Me? Behind?
Yes.
Well, anyway...

• Lent & Beyond

lots of links, indexed, and organized by category

• Daily Scripture Readings from the Book of Common Prayer

• The Litany of Penitence

hat tip to Amy
This is(was) supposed to be prayed on Ash Wednesday, but I would like to use it throughout Lent.

Here is another:

• Prayer of Confession

This one is based on the Ten Commandments.

• A Full Homely Lent

• Activities for Families throughout Lent

I especially like the idea she links to here.
another hat tip to Amy

• My Heart, Christ's Home

I read this as a young teen, and I remember it having a profound effect.  I thought it would be a good meditation for this season. 
While searching for it on the web I found this:

• My Heart, Christ's Home series

As I have not read these posts yet I am not recommending it, merely making a note of it.

Just Do It!

I vaguely remember reading about the Pick a word for the year concept last year, and I have noticed it popping up here & there this year; it is an intriguing idea.  I really like Sarah's idea for setting goals for the new year.  Ah, yes, ideas, theories, plans, these are a few of my favourite things.  I love to think about things and plan things, but not so much to do things.  Oh, and I love to tweak things.  Of course, it being the 9th day of 2010, I am already behind.  I tend to do the whole life-evaluating, goal-setting deal around my birthday, too, which is at the end of June. 

So, here is my twisted, tweaked plan. 

My word is DO, and I even have a Bible verse to go with it:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men . . .
You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23 & 24

And now, borrowing from Sarah, I am setting 6 goals for the next 6 months until my birthday (actually, exactly 24 weeks from tomorrow):

1. walk 100 hours (40-45 minutes; 6 days a week)


2. plan & prepare 168 home-cooked dinners (every. single. day.)
   


3. complete 24 small decluttering projects (one a week)


4. start & finish 4 knitting projects (one every 6 weeks)
   


5. read 8 books (one every 3 weeks)


6. 504 hugs, kisses, and smiles for my husband (three times, each & every day)

Then I will do it again for the second half of the year.

Reading List

Daily Inspiration:
My Utmost Devotional Bible
Joy and Strength by Mary Wilder Tileston
Come to the Quiet by John Michael Talbot

Poetry:
Major Voices ~ 20 British and American Poets

I
have chosen fiction and non-fiction books which I have on my
bookshelves but have never read; my goal is to read 6 in each catergory
by 06/26/06 (the day before my birthday) at which time I will make a
new list.

Fiction:

1. Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan
2. The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne
3. Great Expectations by Dickens
4. Silas Marner by George Eliot
   
5. The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
6. The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway

Non-fiction:

1. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
2. The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton
   
3. The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton
4. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
   
5. Shakespeare of London by Marchette Chute
   
6. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I also have quite a long list of potential read alouds, and I hope to post that by next week.

posted in: Making Plans

Next Year's Plans

Proposed Daily Schedule:

6:30-9:30    Mama: personal time

prayer, breakfast, walk, chores
Children: sleep,
get up and start Morning Things by 8:45 ~ done by 9:30

9:30-12:30   All: Morning prayers & lessons

Teens: independent study after morning prayers
Middles & Littles: Bible & recitations w/Mama; copywork
Middles: Greek, math & Latin 
Littles: phonics & math w/Mama, then play

12:30-1:15  Lunch, clean-up, play

1:15-2:00    Read alouds: poetry, history, literature

2:00-3:30    Quiet time

Littles: naps
Mama, Middles & Teens: independent study

3:30-4:15    Teatime & tutoring

4:15-5:00    Afternoon lessons

Week 1: art studies

Week 2: geography studies
Week 3: music studies
Week 4: science studies

5:00-6:30     Housekeeping
6:30-9:30     Supper & family time

posted in: Making Plans