We are on week two of Advent this year and, as I am doing this series, today I will be talking about how I have made my first ever homemade Advent calendar.

Making an Advent calendar is a positive experience for any young Catholic to participate in because it centers your focus on what Christmas is actually about, which is Jesus and the birth of our Savior. This year, I discussed with my roommates that I wanted to make my own Advent calendar to make sure that each day I was remembering, whether I be focusing on finals, wrapping presents, or complaining about being a college student, that this season is for Jesus.

At first, my roomies thought I was making a count-down with chocolate like most Advent calendars, but oh no, this Catholic girl doesn’t play that way. I wanted to add a bible verse for every day from December 1^st until December 24^th, each relating to an important lesson or thought that I should probably remember this holiday season.

Here is where I turned to the web. In a project like this, Pinterest is your best friend. Most pins were breaking down the Christmas story into sections for each day, but I didn’t want that. I know the Christmas story, most people know the Christmas story, and I knew it wouldn’t really mean anything to me if I reread the Christmas story. I wanted something different.

I finally found a pin that highlighted bible verses throughout the Old and New Testaments, and although it was from 2016, I thought it would do nicely.

I didn’t look up the verses beforehand because I wanted to make sure that I was surprised so that I would be able to truly meditate on each and every word that I read each day.

Now came for the fun part- the decorating! Since I’m a poor college student, I can’t really afford to buy fancy craft items to make an Advent calendar out of, so I improvised and used index cards instead. On one side was the bible verse and on the other was the number of the day I would read the verse and then I was able to decorate the index cards and arrange them on the wall to look like a Christmas tree.

I also decided that each day I would journal in my bullet journal about the bible verses I read, just to add a bit of extra reflection into my day, and it only takes me about 5 minutes each day to actually do. I ask myself three questions each day that I read a bible verse:

1. What is God calling me to do?

2. What do I want to thank God for?

3. Who do I want to pray for?

I want to be able to reflect, praise, and thsnk God each day of my life and I am truly putting in an effort to do that this Christmas season. I think making an Advent calendar is a great way to improve your relationship with God! Also, if your roommates are anything like mine, they will be amazing people and actually want to participate in reading the bible verses each day. My roommates seem to look forward to hearing what the next story will be each day and I am more than happy to allow them to participate in that with me.

So, good luck, happy Advent, and a Merry Christmas to you all.