Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  Little T lit the first candle in our Advent wreath before we sat down for breakfast.  This year I finally invested in an Advent wreath that I can re-use, as opposed to the real deal.  Although I love the scent of the real Advent wreaths and how nicely they warm up a table, after almost burning the house down a few times after the last Sunday of advent (the candles get dangerously close to the very dry branches), I thought a re-useable one would be more practical.

For my birthday this year I was given a gift of a star from some English ladies I have become friends with.  They thought I may want to join in the German tradition of hanging a star, which is illuminated, in a window during the Christmas season.  As we normally cover up all our windows with blinds or curtains I found the star to be much too beautiful to hang in a window hidden behind a blind. I wanted to see it! So, I modified the German tradition and had Hubby hang it beside our dining room table so we could enjoy it with every meal.

I also have an artificial candelabra that sits on the ledge in our Kitchen window, which I can enjoy while cooking as the blinds come down far enough to still give us privacy. In addition, we have a string of coloured mini-lights that greet us when we enter the living room, and various candles throughout the living and dining room.  4:30pm has become my favourite time of the day, as it is dark outside and time to draw the curtains and blinds, light all the candles, turn on the Star and all our other Christmas lights.  The house is magically transformed into an inviting warm oasis of light, which is a welcomed contrast to the dark world outside.

I had a sad experience yesterday while we were driving toward Berlin.  The autobahn suddenly slowed down with no warning of construction signs.    Cars are good about turning on their hazards as soon as the speed has suddenly changed, and we could see ahead that cars in the right lane were frantically trying to get into the left lane.  I always get a pit in my stomach when this happens, as it usually means there has been an accident and I become anxious about seeing crumpled metal and ambulances.  In this case, there was no crumbled metal, but a rather horrific sight of a large boar lying dead with blood pouring from his head, and another who had loss equally as much blood but was still frantically twitching.  I covered  my mouth while looking out at the horrific scene and was thankful that Little T was too wrapped up in a magazine to look out the window.

What struck me as odd was not a single car was off to the side of the highway damaged – only one car with the driver on his cell phone likely calling in what was closing the lane.  Cars drive insanely fast on the autobahn with speeds at time reaching 200km/hour or more.  If a boar (or any animal) suddenly darts out on the highway, how can a car, and other cars in the vicinity, not become severely damaged from the impact?  It was a blessing that human life was spared in the accident, but it reminded me of how fragile life really is.  In a split second, it can be taken away from you with no warning.  The thought of this was still going through my mind as I later lay in bed picturing those poor boars.

Today as I drew the curtains and lit up our house, I felt grateful for the light and being alive.  Maybe what happened yesterday was a necessary reminder to feel love and be grateful.

I hope light, love and gratitude burns brightly in your home as we begin the Christmas season.