Wild Hope Homestead

With Christmas coming, The Little Fulla and I went Christmas tree hunting. I found the perfect, not-too-big and not-too-expensive tree for us. It was down the bottom of the hill, so I had to drag it all the way up the soggy hill to the car. Then it was decorated. Twice. The first time, The Little Fulla somehow convinced The Husband that they were allowed to decorate it without me, whilst I was busy finishing up something in the garden. Sure, I would let the boys hang the decorations without me… Never! When I came inside, there was a highly concentrated mass of decorations in one patch of the tree. They weren’t even hanging, they were just being stuffed further and further into the tree. I fixed it.

The Christmas tree: the non-concentrated mass of decorations version.

One of the Christmas decorations I made this year.

The curious little birds always reappear.

I have been doing the advent calendar house with The Little Fulla, opening one drawer each day of December. There is a little character or piece in each drawer that relates to the Christmas story and I read bits from the Bible as we talk about it. This is a great way to ground ourselves in the good news of Jesus every day, instead of focusing on presents, food or other things that never really satisfy. We have lights outside around the porch and everything is feeling quite joyful. I am thankful for so many things, especially that I am feeling much better and I can sing again. Oh, there have been Christmas carols spurting out around our house all December.

The advent calendar house has been a pivotal feature of our December mornings.

You never know what little characters are going to come out next.

Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. There is more joy around Christmas, as we celebrate God coming to earth in human form, humbly, and in order to later on be mortally wounded to save us from our sins. Real joy comes in knowing that God loves us that much. So much that he planned that from the very beginning, knowing we would sin and fall short of his expectations. When we accept Jesus, his righteousness is transferred to us, and that’s how we meet God’s expectations. Merry Christmas, everyone. The merriness doesn’t stop here!