Make Space

November mornings are the best, when it’s quiet in the house and the light from the window glows pink or purple, part sunrise but you also know part of the light shines from the snow, which is what gives it that ethereal glow. The small bit of magic that makes winter beautiful.

Advent is approaching and I can’t help but think about how much I want this year to be different. I was recently chatting about this with my sister, about doing a tech detox for the rest of the year (yes, the rest of the year! Not sure what that will look like for me yet, I’ll keep you posted). We hear messages from everywhere saying to slow down and un-plug. I want that so much but I’m really good at deceiving myself. I think it’s safe to say we are a pretty distracted society. I love how holidays and seasons of preparation also remind us of that. I feel as if I need to really focus on giving up these distractions this Advent....Lent style. I know I need a big decluttering of my soul to prepare for the coming of Jesus this year. 

To end off 2017 (which has really been a tough one for me if I’m being honest) I want to quiet myself enough to be able to prepare for Jesus coming this Christmas. I know they say Jesus was born into a mess, not a sterilized delivery room in a hospital, so I’m not striving for perfection and I know I may just be in a season where things are a little messy still, that’s ok. 

My encouragement to myself this year (and anyone reading this) is to venture in to the places in your heart and soul that you’ve crowded out with noise. Sit in the mess with yourself, it might be uncomfortable, but allow Jesus to meet you there. Allow him to sit with you among your regrets, failures, not enoughs, and to do lists. Even allow him to pick up a rag and to help you start slowly cleaning up your soul space. 

We are in desperate need of quiet and stillness. Let this Advent (or even the last week or so leading up to Advent) to be a time of taking away the crutches we’ve been leaning on for too long (whatever they may be for you) and to face the parts of yourself that have been too cluttered to even open the door (you know the room you just walk past because it feels like too much). Make space, do a little at a time. Prepare yourself to receive your God. 

Prepare yourself to also receive your family as you never have before. Your family you see everyday, and your family you see at Christmas. I’m trying to prepare to give all of myself to people this year. (And not just the people who are inside this little screen). 

I think our culture is ready for big changes, counter cultural changes, to go back to the way it was, although we can’t turn away from technology we can find harmony with it. We are shifting back to when people, the ones sitting in front of you were the only ones that mattered and you could be with them in the moment. 

Disclaimer: I suck at this. But this year I’m really going to try. I hope everyone has a good Advent this year or if you don’t do Advent a strong finish to 2017!

If this resonated with you, here is a reading list my brother-in-law (Matt Nelson, Apologetics speaker and writer) created called "Back to Sanity" Book List for Modern Catholics I seriously recommend checking some of them out, there is a nice mix of fiction and non fiction for any reader (not just Catholics)! My personal favourites out of the few I've read on the list are Hannah Coulter (or any book by Wendell Berry) and The Awakening of Miss Prim. One I'm hoping to read over Christmas is The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise by Robert Cardinal Sarah. 

Let's make a pact, more hot cocoa and people, less time staring at a screen. (There real story behind this picture is that I made home made cocoa and the kids didn't like the taste and didn't drink it...need to work on my recipe haha)