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Hillary: How was your Christmas?

Me: Good. Lots of good food. Lots of good family.

Hillary: Awwwww. You sound like a Hallmark Card.

A time for matching pajamas and togetherness.

I like Christmas. I found a Christmas album by Sleeping at Last that is delightful/stirring/relaxed/melancholy/amazing/beautiful.

Since Noise Trade albums are free. You might want to give it a try. And while you’re there, you might give some other new artists a spin.

Live Christmas Eve Update from Ryan Bush on Vimeo.

Sophia loves to sing. And now, she’s all about the Christmas tunes. The other day I could over hear her in her playroom singing. It went like this:

Away in a manger

No crib for a bed

The little Lord Jesus

Cried and cried and cried

The Krusty Sage said it.

Last year I found myself struggling with the whole Christmas machine here in the U.S. It’s messed up. However, instead of being cynical, I decided to lead my family into a more meaningful perspective on Christmas. I found a very purposeful and relevant way to go about Christmas in Advent. So, I set up an Advent calendar.

Advent means expectation. After all, Christmas is about the arrival of the Messiah, the One who had been anticipated for centuries!

This year I thought it would be good to take that expectation literally. We’re journeying through the Old Testament with our hearts bent towards Bethlehem. After all, the Old Testament is a longing for the expected One, Jesus. So, we’re longing right along with them.

You can download the Advent calendar/schedule I put together here. Feel free to use it for your family, small group, whatever.

How does your family celebrate Christmas?

Winter is gone. Hot is here. I like summer. Baseball. Air conditioning.

But, I’ll miss winter. Not so much winter, but my hoody.

Until next fall, friend.

Me and the girls in our brand spankin’ new Christmas hoodies (thanks Linda!).

Sophia is Peruvian. Actually, she is a Peruvian citizen and a U.S. citizen. She was born in Lima, Peru and lived the first 5 months of her life there. So, she got an alpaca for Christmas. Alpacas are indigenous to Peru and Ecuador. (For more on our life in Peru, visit the archives.)

Where does one get an Alpaca? Here, of course! So, I guess you’ve figured out that she didn’t actually get an Alpaca. But, somebody in Peru or Ecuador is going to get one from Sophia.

We thought it would be an appropriate crescendo to our anticipation (see advent calendar), using our resources to labor alongside Jesus to bring hope to one of Sophia’s fellow Peruvians.