[The Advent Conspiracy]

The last few years The Porch has taken part in Advent Conspiracy. This is a movement started a few years back by a group of churches that really wanted to let go of the consumerism that has taken over Christmas. Basically, it's all about refocusing our lives and hearts in this season of Advent - turning them back to the Savior that changed the world, and endeavoring to live lives of love and service that honor his life and story (aka Can Christmas Still Change the World?).

Even though The Porch has been a part of this movement for awhile, personally I never really took the time to connect to it.

As a student, life was just so busy around this time of year; all I could really do was look forward to a break.
In Costa Rica, things were pretty similar, with the added bonus of looking forward to seeing family and friends I hadn't seen in months.
After I started working retail last year, the idea of have weeks off around Christmas changed. Suddenly, I only had a 24-36 hour period to head to my folks' place and celebrate Christmas. We didn't even make it to a Christmas Eve service because we really wanted to take advantage of our time together as a family. 

This year it's my goal is to really lean into the plan and vision of [AC]. The last few years I have just felt so disconnected from Advent; this year I want that to change.

Based on four tenets [Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All], [AC] encourages us to take the time to slow down and focus in on the Savior whose advent we're meant to be preparing for. Over the next few weeks I plan to get into each of these topics, sharing thoughts and ideas based on discussions around The Porch, as well as my personal experiences.

If you're feeling discouraged by how much debt you accrue this time of year, or struggle to remember why Christmas is anything more than time with family and gifts, I invite you to join in the [AC]. This season, let's turn Christmas upside down.