Cherishing the Season
By Bekka Lambert
Every year, it seems Advent sneaks up on me. One moment, I’m still cleaning up from Thanksgiving, and the next, the calendar is full of Christmas parties, concerts, and cookie exchanges. I tell myself that this year will be different — this year we’ll slow down — but somehow, the season slips by in a blur of busyness.
Advent, a season of anticipation, gives us an opportunity to reflect on the hope, peace, and joy that Jesus brought us with his birth. I’ve tried slowing down in years past, but every year seems to get busy whether I started it with good intentions or not, and I end the season with wishful thinking that next year will be different. “It just got so busy, I just wanted to make sure everyone had fun,” I think. Advent itself is about treasuring Jesus above all other things. How can I hold the tension well between upholding family traditions, starting new traditions, and slowing down? What does slowing down look like? Is it even realistic?
I want to demonstrate to my children that above all else they should treasure Christ, and help them to see the joy and beauty of the season. I also want to maintain traditions that we have established and enjoy. Treasuring Christ requires slowing down enough to notice what’s around us, time to reflect.
We have a tradition with our boys of going as a family to pick out an ornament for each of them that symbolizes something that happened in our year. When we go to pick out ornaments, I want it to be more than a quick errand squeezed between shopping trips. I want it to become a time of remembering God’s faithfulness — like placing small stones of remembrance, the way Israel did after crossing the Jordan. Each ornament tells a story: of laughter, growth, change, and grace.
As we choose, we can ask simple questions: Where did we see Jesus in our big moments this year? When did He feel close? How has He helped us love others better? These are the quiet, sacred conversations that turn tradition into worship.
Slowing down doesn’t always mean cutting out every activity or saying no to every invitation. It can mean doing the same things differently — with awareness, gratitude, and wonder. It means making space for Jesus in the midst of the season, not after it’s over. Sometimes, slowing down looks like pausing before we rush out the door to pray together. Other times, it looks like sitting in front of the tree lights for a few minutes after the kids are asleep, reflecting on the light that came into the world through Him.
In Luke 2:19 we see an example of reflection that can set the tone for us. “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Mary, in the midst of an unexpected and uncertain night, slowed down long enough to ponder. That’s the kind of treasuring I want to learn — and to model for my children.
So before we fill up the calendar this year, will you join me in prayer for this upcoming season?
Jesus, we invite you into our calendar for this holiday season. Would you help us to consider every party, every commitment, every good thing, and help us to discern which things will be helping draw our families nearer to you, and which things are just more? We deeply desire to treasure you above all else, and we need your help and guidance in this. In a world that is always feeding us more, drown out the noise and draw us to the joy, peace, love, and hope that you have to offer us when we turn to you. We love you Jesus, Amen.
Reflect with me, what would it look like to slow down this Advent — not by doing less, but by noticing more?
