Happy birthday Nomi!
Celebrating 90 years of showing up
This past Saturday morning, we celebrated my grandma (Nomi)’s 90th birthday!
Our home was filled with people who know her and love her, and she was bopping around loving them all right back. It was incredible to meet and see so many of her friends, to hear the stories they had to tell and the great honor and love they have for Nomi, who is truly the greatest woman I know.
There were so many beautiful moments that morning, but a thread emerged from all of my conversations - Nomi shows up. She shows up for her golfing friends early in the morning. She shows up for daily mass (also early in the morning). She shows up for games and concerts and pageants and parties and graduations and on and on. Nomi is always there.
And if I know anything in this busy and unpredictable life, showing up is hard. It requires real work and a decision (many decisions) to keep showing up, to get up when we want to lie down, to lean in when we want to hang back, to commit to things even if something more interesting pops up down the line. Nomi is the world’s best example of showing up.
And in turn, people show up for her, showering her with gifts and kind words and celebration. Her parish priest, Fr. Jimmy, offered a beautiful blessing. Her priest of 25 years, Fr. John, sent a beautiful letter with comparisons between her and some of the strongest women in the bible. The people around her see how she loves and shows up, and they take note.
It’s a fitting reminder as we enter into Advent — a season all about showing up. Mary shows up and says yes to God’s call. Joseph shows up to love and protect Mary and Jesus. The Wise Men show up and follow the star. The shepherds show up when they hear the angels. And we, too, are invited to show up in a new and deeper way this Advent.
One of my favorite ways to show up is to stop in at the closest church and spend some time in silence before the Lord. 15 minutes of prayer on my knees before the tabernacle or before Jesus in adoration is so simple, so good, but finding time in the busyness of this season can make it feel impossible. But to live Advent well, to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming at Christmas, we need to show up. To attend to the Lord in daily prayer, the Mass, the rosary, scripture. We are invited to come close to Him, as He prepares to come close to us at Christmas.
Let’s all take a page out of Nomi’s book this Advent and commit to a new way of showing up. How can we offer God a new part of our day, a new part of our heart? Advent devotions are abundant (I’ll link a few below), but I encourage us to find one and stick with it — or alternatively, to say no to Advent devotionals and use that time to sit in silence with the Lord. This beautiful season becomes even more beautiful when we focus on the reason for all the lights and gifts and parties: God became Man because He loves us. He shows up, in the darkest and most unexpected places. Are we ready, do we have the space to receive Him in a new way?
In Christ,
Jane
What I’m loving lately
Favorite things incoming
On Thursday, I’ll send out a special “favorite things” edition of this newsletter, with some of my favorite things from this year! Stay tuned :)
Nomi on the podcast
You, too, can receive wise words from Nomi! Here she is on my podcast, one of my favorite episodes of course:
Advent
There are SO MANY great Advent devotions, but here are some of my favorites:
Hallow Pray25 Be Still
Fr. Mike’s Waiting Well with Ascension
Pray More Novena’s Advent Retreat
Through a Glass Darkly Advent Reflections
I am reading “Come Lord Jesus: Meditations on the art of waiting” and invite you to join me!
St. Andrew Christmas Novena
This is a beautiful Christmas novena that you can pray 15 times per day every day until Christmas for an intention! I set it as my phone background to remind me (and as a good reminder that it’s Advent every time I pick up my phone!) Thank you
for the original template!!
My favorite TJ treat is here
These candy cane chocolate almonds are supreme. I could live on them.
Holiday delights
Okay, I am obsessed with these holiday trends!!! First, we have skiiers, which are everywhere. I loveeee a little skier motif, nothing is cuter. These water bottles and city plates and pjs from Anthropologie have knocked me over.
Then we have *bows* !! These J.Crew earrings were out of stock but just came back at 50% so I bought them yay!! Noodling on making my tree a “bow” tree this year… stay tuned.
Prayer intentions
For a few special intentions