Advent is Here, Happy New Year!

Many happy returns for the new year, church year - that is, as Christians recognize Advent as the time of preparation for the Savior's birth on Christmas Day.  At the church we attend, it's marked by celebration, reaching out to help others, and a cookie walk for the youth group's mission trip next summer.

Just four short weeks from now we will celebrate Christmas.  Are you ready?

I am trying.  In our smaller place, we don't have as many Christmas decorations to put up so some of the Christmas lights aren't needed on the tree.  Instead, I turned to the balcony and put the lights out there.

Lighting the night with twinkling lights is fun (although this is no Griswold house by any stretch of the imagination), but can be frustrating.  I had one string plugged in and it was all lit... then added a string and..... nothing!   Two other strings also failed to use their light emitting diodes at all.  That was part of the frustration, these were new strings of LED lights and nothing worked, and I couldn't seem to access the fuses to make any changes with them.

Yes, there were more lights, and after throwing out three strings - two strings - one multi-colored and another white bulbs were hung with care (a little care, anyway).  The timer clicks them on after 4pm and off around midnight.  (I try not to be to strict with the timer, just suggest a time to it and let it figure out the best time to go on and off.)

It confirmed that I shouldn't ever think about electrical work for a career choice, and that when it comes to the lighting of Christmas, fewer and newer are the only way for me to go.

Enjoy the New Year, the preparation for Christmas, and remember that the only light you need this Christmas is the Light you will find in the manger.