The new Waiting Thankfully Season

     Somehow, I seem to have my holidays upside down.  In August, I wrote a series on the birth of Christ.  Today, I've been formatting that series as a little Advent book.  In the midst of all this formatting, I've been cooking for Thanksgiving.  We aren't even through October yet!!  For the people who are coming to my house for Thanksgiving, I might as well tell you that I have the menu a little mixed up.  I started out to make traditional cornbread dressing, got distracted, and ended up with Taco Soup and Chili. I'm not sure how that happened, so don't ask. I did make gluten-free cornbread, but I still don't have the dressing.  Today, I got distracted again and made watermelon sorbet.  How that's going over at Thanksgiving is anybody's guess.  I still don't have dressing.  Oh well.  Since I've started so early, there is still time for dressing and turkey!

     After I got the little book formatted, I realized you couldn't tell clearly when one day's devotional stopped and the next day's devotional started, so I went back to number them.  This is clearly not a well-planned project, because it has FORTY THREE days of Advent.  I have checked with that modern authority on all things, Wikipedia, and Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25th.  It's always the Sunday between November 27th and December 3rd. That sounds as confusing as my forty-three day Advent, so I guess I'm good to go.  I have decided to start Advent on November 13th or maybe November 23rd, which means t hat, either way, I will be combining Thanksgiving and Advent this year.

     Since Advent is "a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity" (thanks, Wikipedia) and Thanksgiving is a day of giving thanks for the harvest and the blessings of the preceding year, I've decided to celebrate a new season this year.  It's the Waiting Thankfully Season. Isn't that perfect?  While we wait for the celebration of the Nativity, we can ponder it, and as we ponder, we can consider just how grateful we are (or how grateful we should be). The best way to celebrate the Waiting Thankfully Season will be to give thanks every day for that wonderful event for which we wait... the Nativity.

That gives Advent a whole new meaning doesn't it?  It spices up Thanksgiving a bit, too, if you ask me. Waiting Thankfully Season. With grateful hearts for decorations and bended knees for the main activity, I think it might be one of the best seasons of all.  Who's joining me this year?