“December 7.”  That date meant I was late for advent.  I kept repeating the day in my head as I pushed open the barn door to my office and walked towards my mis-matched chair and desk.

I had every intention of starting the advent activity, from Focus on the Family, on time with our children.  Our 3 kids, ages 6, 4, and 2, were excited about building a nativity as we slowly approached Christmas Day.  Wait… slowly?  Who am I kidding?  Time was rushing by and life was a complete blur of school, work, youth group and coaching.  

December 7.  This would be the day we would start the advent activity.  It had already been a few days since I had sat in front of my computer trying to decide if it would be more economical to print the activity at home on my own printer, or in town at the print shop.  I decided it was probably cheaper at the print shop.

Even with that decision made, I pictured the scene of making one more trip into town, getting the kids out of their car seats and running door-to-door in the cold, north-east winds.  That thought alone made me shiver, sigh, and press print.  After the printing was complete, I gathered up the papers so that I could review them and cut out the first few days worth of cards.  We had some catch-up to do.