Sunday, December 2, 2012

Advent

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I have always seen Advent as a journey.  A time to reclaim and revisit the principles that guide my life.
6.27.81  Our wedding day!
I especially miss the church of my childhood during Advent.  It was there that my faith journey began and was nurtured.   Mr. DillyDally and I refer to ourselves as "Displaced Lutherans"! ;-)  There isn't a Lutheran church in our community ... we are welcomed and feel comfortable at many of the local churches ... but I still miss the Scandinavian traditions within the church of my youth.
Since I discovered this book at 16 years of age, I have read it every year during Advent.  I shared the details of that in this post.  Every year this book reminds me of the human experiences surrounding the beginning of Christ's time on earth.  After all these years ... thirty-nine to be exact (can that be?) ... this book helps to put my thoughts and my heart where it belongs during the holiday season.  It is part of my journey this time of year.
Photo from Lila and Claudine's facebook page
This year I have added another activity to my Advent journey.  On facebook, I follow a yarn shop located in the Twin Cities area called Lila and Claudine's Yarn & Gift Shop.  They are sponsoring a "knit-a-long" involving an Advent scarf.
Knitting is a very meditative activity for me.  I love to begin my day with knitting, as it allows me to clear my head and think through the details of my life.  I find it easy to pray when I'm knitting.  So on Saturday, I went to our local yarn shop, The Net Loft and picked out this beautiful hand-dyed yarn.  This picture doesn't capture the color very well ... it is vibrant shades of red and purple.
Each day we receive a lace pattern to add to the scarf and a brief meditation supplied by a church leader.  This photo was taken this morning while I was working on the second pattern.  I am very happy I decided to do this ... and will keep you posted on my progress!
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It was a crazy busy weekend here in my remote corner of the planet.  Friday night was the community tree lighting, Santa visited and the annual bazaar began.  Saturday I taught a class, returned to the bazaar and attended a fund raising dinner.  Whew!  Wonderful ... but exhausting!
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We claimed today as our own ... we spent it together ... dillydallying.  Our days are getting very short ... with daylight hours being limited we did not want to waste them.  We went for a hike with Kysa!
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Mother Nature continues to glamorize the landscape with hoarfrost, her version of glitter!
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 I love how she transforms brush into fine lace!
Kysa - 12.2.12
By 2:00 pm our shadows were getting long, it was a short ... but lovely afternoon!
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Celebrate Advent!  Enjoy the journey!
Mrs. DillyDally

3 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this post. A good reminder to take time to reflect and relax; and not get caught up in the shopping frenzy!

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  2. Beautiful post! Thanks for taking us along on your Advent journey. It is a good reminder to stop in our busy world and remember the real reason for this season. I'm going to look for the book.

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  3. I love the idea of an advent scarf to reflect in a meaningful way on the season and to produce a lasting reminder of that time of meditation and reflection of the season. I am inspired by this. Love to you , Mrs Dilly Dally....

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