WholeAdvent

The first week of Advent is nearly over. And it is December! Where does the time go?

My roommate and I decided to take this time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which so often becomes a blur of Christmas parties and shopping etc. and be really intentional about how we spent it. 

So we're doing Whole30 (and calling it WholeAdvent). If you haven't heard of it, its a 30 day eating "challenge" where you basically eat really strictly paleo as a sort of gut reset. After the 30 days is over, you reintroduce legumes, grains, dairy, and sugar to see how your body reacts to each group. The objective is obviously to be healthy, but also to reduce inflammation, and to ultimately see if the way that junk food impacts you is really worth it. We are on day 9 of 30, and we'll finish on Christmas Eve, just in time for the little Savior to be born into the arms of Our Lady! 

One thing that has been awesome about WholeAdvent is that instead of each of us making something separate or grabbing something quickly, we have to be intentional about meal planning, and we're doing it together. We've made some good crockpot meals for the weeknights when we get home and are tired, and we've left the more labor intensive meals to nights when we're both home and free. 

I'm also only reading religious books for Advent, and we're praying Night Prayer every night before bed. 

The theme that is coming up in my prayer over and over again lately has been trust. I am a bit of a control freak and I have such a hard time trusting in a plan that I cannot see. I'm realizing more and more how complete Mary's trust in Jesus is, and also that she's my only hope to learn to trust Him too. 

This is the Marian prayer for after Night Prayer during Advent:

Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
Yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.

Maria, Virgin and Mother, pray for us!