An open letter

My dear sister in Christ,

On this, the last day of Advent, I want you to know that I have been praying for you this season.  I know that darkness is often deep and enduring, and it can crowd out the light the Christmas season brings.  I know, because I have griefs of my own.   Advent, dear sister, is the season for us.  Advent is for those who sit in darkness, for those who yearn for redemption, for those who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy.  Advent is for us.

Advent gathers our sorrows unto herself and bids us cry our penitential tears.  And so we do. She reveals our sadness, hopes, and fears, and bids us lay them before the Lord.  And so we do.   She brings an ever-burning light into our homes, and bids us look to Christ.  And so we do.

On this night, when Christ, who is our light descends to us to cast out our sin, let not your hearts be troubled.  For though your griefs are many and your sorrows deep, Christ has entered the world to be your light.  His birth quells the power of hell, and his great and abundant mercy flows far as the curse is found.

We, with the shepherds, kneel before the manger to see Isaiah's prophesies fulfilled in Christ- a child, a son, the Word silently pleading for us.  Nails and spear pierced him through, as he bore the cross for you.  He, the second Adam, came to mend what sin had marred, and to give us the right to be the heirs of heaven above.

I pray for you this night, as I have been praying for you:

“O Jesus, very light of light,
Our constant star in sin’s deep night:
Now hear the prayers,
Your people pray,
Throughout the world this holy day,
Aleluia!” (LSB 403 v. 2)

“Thou, Christian heart,
Whoe’er thou art,
Be of good cheer
and let no sorrow move thee.
For God’s own Child,
In mercy mild,
Joins thee to Him; how greatly God must love thee!” (LSB 372, v. 4)

God’s great and abundant mercy be yours tonight.

Advent Cleaning Challenge Week 2

After the kitchen, the place we spend the most of our time is the living room, dining room, and playroom.  We have a lot of open space in house, and these rooms attach to the kitchen and each other with huge doorways, and little wall space.  Therefore, I've joined these rooms together for my deep-cleaning this week.

Here's the list:

-Sweep and mop all floors
-Dust and polish wooden furniture
-Touch up scratches and nicks on furniture with scratch cover
-Clean dining room table with wood soap
-Clean mantel with wood soap
-Reorganize cluttered toy shelves
-Sort through old candles
-Reorganize homeschooling shelves and art supplies
-Vacuum couches and chairs
-Move canning jars and pots to the store room (I think I'm finally done canning!)
-Fix sheer curtains (Okay, not exactly cleaning, but some of the clips broke, and I need to replace them.  I've been needing to do this for a long time...)

What's on your list this week?

Advent Cleaning Challenge, Week 1 follow-up

As a review, here is what I set out to accomplish this week.


-Clean all refrigerator shelves, and drawers
-Clean top of refrigerator
-Scrub sink and surrounding areas
-Scrub counters
-Empty and clean utensil drawers
-Wipe down cupboard doors and drawers, fronts of appliances
-Scrub microwave
-Scrub stove, inside, out, and under burners (and those nasty grease filters in the exhaust fan)
-Mop floor
-Reorganize pantry
-Clean trashcan


I managed to get most of it done, but I had to skip over the microwave, top of the fridge, and the inside of the stove.  I ended up baking seventeen dozen cookies instead.  Overall, I'm pleased with the house so far!  How are you doing?

Take the Challenge: Advent Deep Cleaning, Week 1

For the past few years, we have invited the congregation over to our house the week of Christmas for an open house.  I spend weeks baking cookies, decorating the house, creating Christmas playlists.  What I usually don't do is spend weeks cleaning.  I have the tendency to leave that for the couple days before the open house, then spend hours cleaning.

Since deep cleaning is an long-held Advent tradition, I'm changing things up a bit this year.  I've divided my house into four areas, and each week I'll focus on deep-cleaning as much of that area as possible.  Care to join me?   I'll post a list at the beginning of each week of what area I intend to clean, and at the end of the week report what I actually accomplished!  You can use my list, make your own, or just wish I'd come and do your house, too.

This week, I'm focusing on the kitchen. I spend most of my time in the kitchen, and once clean, I'll be able to get to work on all those cookies I'm needing to bake.

I'll aim to accomplish a few items each day, and hopefully, by the end of the week, the kitchen will be a happier place. 

Here's the week's list of cleaning:

-Clean all refrigerator shelves, and drawers
-Clean top of refrigerator
-Scrub sink and surrounding areas
-Scrub counters
-Empty and clean utensil drawers
-Wipe down cupboard doors and drawers, fronts of appliances
-Scrub microwave
-Scrub stove, inside, out, and under burners (and those nasty grease filters in the exhaust fan)
-Mop floor
-Reorganize pantry
-Clean trashcan

Perhaps I'm dreaming big, but I have already cleaned the fridge, reorganized the pantry, and scrubbed the sink.

What's on your cleaning list this week?