This may be my best Christmas yet.

I was raised as a non-denominational Christian by both of my parents. When I was young my parents took me to Sunday school and AWANA (a "cool" teen verison of Sunday School) and we were happily at church every Sunday. We also prayed around the dinner table and read Bible stories before bedtime. My favorite memories of my childhood involve my parents teaching me something about my faith, and I am so greatful to them for every second of their time they spent teaching me about faith and God.

As many Christians do, I had my ups and downs and kind of gave up on being a Christian for a while in my teens. It was too hard, there were too many restrictions, but most of all, my parents gave up too. Not gonna lie, my life wasnt pretty for a while, at least not to me. I think I was around 18 when I did a complete face-plant and realized that something was terribly wrong with my life, and I knew how to fix it. I grew up with God, and I'm glad that I did, because if I hadn't known faith and God, I wouldn't have known what was missing. Since that time, I've grown spiritually, and most of that growth has come from the relationships I've had with other Christians. People that are no longer in my life have left lasting impressions on me, some of them by one simple action.

At this point in my life, I'm starting to pull things together. I'm finally going to finish school and begin a career. I'll be getting married in the next few years and having children after that. This Christmas season, as my fiance and I have started Advent, I've begun to realize what's truly important in my life. It's so easy to become distracted by the world around me and let the anxiety of life swallow me whole. I'm a totally worrier, I worry about things that are months away and it does absolutely no good.

This Christmas season I'm not going to worry. I'm going to be thankful for my relationship with God and how I got to this place in my life. I'm putting my faith in Him, and focusing on the only thing that matters. Especially this season. I can't begin to say how much of an impact Advent has had on me, and today is only the 3rd day! I'm excited to learn and grow, it's like a mini-retreat at home. I wonder what I will learn tonight?!

For anyone interested in how to do Advent you can visit http://www.teachingmom.com/features/advent.html. It's a great way to get your kids involved in faith too.