Jennifer Asp

What if our homes looked different in the season of waiting and expectation that Advent brings? There are a million cute ways to decorate for Christmas and it does make for such a lovely, festive environment. That said, I want to offer the ideas of embracing the season of Advent as one of waiting and embracing Christmas as a more distinct season of celebration. These are not hard and fast rules, and I'm convinced that while you can create space for Advent, Christmas will alwa

About a year ago a friend mentioned she was using The Book of Common Prayer as a way to quiet herself and approach the Throne of God in prayer or study. I was really interested in what she said, but The Book of Common Prayer is grouped in my mind with things that allude me like exact baking measurements, geometry and car mechanics. I became increasingly aware, however, that starting a Bible study in the morning seemed to feel sort of abrupt and sometimes I felt like I could r

Music can act as a signal. The day after Thanksgiving, or sometimes the days before Thanksgiving, you walk into a store and hear your first round of Jingle Bells and you know it's buying season. Initial Christmas music is like the first snow. Exciting at first, but by the end of the season you feel glad you have the rest of the year to recover from it. I first tried the idea of creating a playlist for Advent music thanks to ideas from Aslan's Library. What is Advent music? It

This coming weekend, the weekend before Thanksgiving, feels like the last moments of normalcy before the inevitable plunge into holidays that always seems to leave me reeling in January. I’m looking into the next week and beyond and I see a trip for Thanksgiving, a book release, the beginning of Advent, a trip to Israel, Christmas and family visits, New Year’s Eve, and then January. I also see mounds of unfolded clothes and school work and dirty dishes that need attending. Be

Fasting and Feasting I did not grow up in a liturgical church and so “Church Year” is not my mother tongue. So, in my quest to try and figure out what Advent is and what it might look like in our family, this line, "Advent is not tailgating," has been very helpful to me. I am not an expert in liturgical things, but I am a believer there is beauty and wisdom in setting aside days and seasons in our walk of faith for special purposes. I’ve also been interested in thinking about