Advent: A Twist on Family Prayer Time

As part of my Advent series, today I’d like to share I completely, 100%, unashamedly stole from someone else.  The Faga-Meyer’s are an awesome Iowa family we got to know during our graduate school years at Iowa State.  They were part of a “Young Marrieds” group at our parish.  I’m pretty sure we were the youngest by a decade.  All the couples had kids except us.  There is not enough room on this blog to tell you the amazing parental wisdom, the great faith, glasses of spilled wine and the many laughs we shared with that group.  True to form, we keep in touch with every single couple, minus one, from that original group.

Each year, we got an amazing card from Beth and Larry and in it, they spoke about how they pulled a Christmas card from their pile each night and prayed for that family.  They read the cards aloud and told their kids stories about the card sender.  How they knew them.  Where they were from.  And why they loved them so much.  We decided to pay them the highest form of flattery and copy their idea.  The thing I love, love, love about this tradition is that it is the Advent gift that gives all year long.

Every night, as we sit down to dinner, my kids race to the card pile to choose a card (or 2 or 3!) to share at the dinner table.  Providence has shown his beautiful face at our table.  The night our sweet nephew, Hudson, was born, his family’s card was pulled from the pile.  The night my grandmother passed away, one of her children’s cards was pulled from the pile.  There is always God’s hand at work as our children select “the” card to read.  The thing I think I love most is that even though miles and states and life has separated many of us on the Christmas card list, our prayers remain with each of them.  Our children are learning about the people who shaped their mom and dad.  And, we occasionally tell them a funny story or two.  It really is the best part of our day.

We’re excited to start rebuilding the pile this year.  Thanks for coming to dinner, y’all!