Second Sunday of Advent

     Another week has gone by. Work at the furniture shop is going well. Candace has had several trainings for her new job, and has met the first person she will work with directly. The gallery has opened another show with six Josh paintings, and the local papers did a story about it. We had a chance to decorate our apartment for Christmas with a little tree and some lights.

 

     It has been pretty cold! It was 7 degrees when I walked to work the other day. This morning there was a wind-chill factor of -4. That takes some adjusting to. The weather forecast actually calls this weather “frigid!” The snow falls and stays where it lands for weeks. Nursery schools won’t send the kids out to the park if the temp is below 20.

    

     Our church has some beautiful traditions that have developed here. They have a candle-lighting dance performed by four women while we all sing a cappella before they light the advent candles each week. There is an illuminated piece of art that gets progressively revealed week-by-week. The Gospel is read. On communion Sundays there is a congregational dance. During Advent we have dramas instead of sermons, but they are well done, and I like them. Experiencing Christmas in this new environment is helping me to let the season be fresh and expectant.

 

     Jedidiah offers some pretty sweet prayers at night. We always try to pray together as we put him to sleep. He prays “thank you” for the friends he sees, and the food he eats and the games he plays and other stuff. We love to listen and hear what events of the day seem to matter the most to him. He seems to have fully adjusted to living here. He sees people he knows and gets excited; he anticipates our weekly events and is thrilled each time we do them. He loves church, especially the music. He is all about drumming these days. He takes his drumsticks (one knitting needle & one plastic xylophone mallet) with him everywhere he goes. He uses them to play air drums through the entire worship time at church.