Advent Day 2

Today is a day off and I intend to spend it decorating my house.  I enjoy that a lot and love the transformation that takes place as I take my Christmas decorations out of the boxes and consider where to put them in our house.  When it's all done, it's lovely and we enjoy it for the season.  But there are ways I need to prepare in order to do this.  The first thing I need to do is to take down many of our regular decorations in order to make room for the Christmas decorations.  This is also a bit of work but it's also satisfying because it's easy to clean when everything is put away and then, when the season is over, I can once again consider if I'd like things in a different place for the year ahead!
Clearing away the "regular stuff" is an essential preparatory step on the road to creating the Christmas atmosphere I so enjoy in our home.  It is not very much fun but once done, it opens up the space I need to create the winter wonderland that I love.
I suppose this step can be likened to what Advent is to Christmas.  In many ways, Advent is a clearing away of the regular or the mundane in order to create space for Christmas to come anew in our lives.  We take intentional steps during this season, like lighting candles, baking different sweets, and yes, decorating our houses.  But I wonder what we are doing to create space in our lives, in our hearts, and in our minds in order to allow God to do something new in our lives during Advent, the season where we prepare and wait and for Christmas.  As I prepare my house to decorate and remove certain items in my house in order to create space for other things, I'm going to ponder what it is that I need to remove from my life, my mind, my heart in order to allow God the space to "re-decorate" my life, my mind, my heart during this advent season.