A new twist on a newly followed tradition in our home.

Being part of an interfaith family has its challenges.  I am more faithful and J is more observant of the heritage of Judaism.  Many Christians feel that Judaism is the foundation of the Chrisitian faith. I am not schooled enough to enumerate the reasons why, however, this is not the case.   

For a long time I took the children to church.  It is really hard to do so when you do it by yourself, especially after a long week of working fulltime getting dressed up just seems like one more chore.  Then I wasn't happy with the church we were going to and decided to look for other churches.  We tried a few but it was difficult to get out of the door on a regular basis.  As a result we have not attended church regularly for some time.

We do say prayers every night and speak of our faith often.  This year I have been inspired to celebrate Advent in our home.  I have always known about the Advent Wreath and that the colors of the candles are purple and pink.  I have always known that Advent begins 4 weeks before Christmas.  There are many things that I was not aware of, for example, that the

First Candle First Sunday in Advent
November 29th

Color: Purple

Second Candle Second Sunday in Advent
December 6th

Color: Purple

Third Candle Third Sunday in Advent
December 13th
Color: Purple or pink

Fourth Candle Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 20th

Color: Purple

I went to church throughout my childhood and sporadically in my young adulthood.  I was oblivious to the meanings of the traditions.  This year we will put together a wreath to celebrate the impending Chirstmas holiday.  We will also light the menorah, a tradition that I have come to love.  J says all the prayers in Hebrew and the kids and I look on with wonder.

Here are some wreaths that I have found for examples:

This screams traditional, yes?

Traditional and frilly.

Lovely!

And here is ours!  We ran out to the craft store to find pink and purple pillar candles.  No luck on the pink, but we scored on the purple.

This is my cherry wood salad bowl.  I placed a circle of wood (thanks W!) that I  covered with purple tissue paper, then covered that with dry white beans.  M and I took our kitchen shears and headed out to the back yard to collect the greens.

Of course we had to add some glitter:

I am pleased!  We are ready for tomorrow!