Advent Series 202: Week 2

For our second week of Advent we light the Peace Candle and celebrate my husband's cultural background.  He is Filipino and both of his parents grew up in the Philippines.  Consequently, they have some very different Christmas traditions from when they were younger.  We love this night when we can spend quality time with Lolo and Lola (Tagalog for Grandpa and Grandma) and hear their stories from when they were children.  Jason's Dad, Lolo, is at a rehab center currently healing from some major surgery so we moved the whole operation to his room at rehab!  (Except for the wreath, I wasn't sure exactly where it would fit and it isn't about the wreath anyway.  We lit that another night when we were home.)

FAMILY ACTIVITY:  There are lots of differences in the way Lolo and Lola celebrated Christmas when they were children and the way traditional Americans celebrate it.  One of the biggest differences is the tree.  So on this night we decorate a Filipino Christmas Tree the way Jason's parent's remember doing it as children.  And while we are doing it we get to hear lots of fabulous stories of when they were young.  Like when Jason's Dad's brother would go back to visit houses he had already visited in hopes of collecting more coins.  Gifts are not a traditional part of Christmas in the Philippines, instead on Christmas Day the children would go house to house in the village giving the traditional greeting of pressing the top of the hands of their elders to their forehead and wishing the inhabitants "Maligayang Pasco" or Merry Christmas in Tagalog.  In exchange they were given small coins to spend on candy or a toy.

This is our Fil-Am Tree.  He is a bit smaller than usual because he had to fit on the small bookshelf in the room.  Notice the hanging ornaments, totally American and added by Lola so that Dad would have pictures of his grandchildren on his very own tree.  The orange at the base are origami creations by my son.

FOCUS:  Peace.  We have peace on this earth amidst strife because of Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace.  He came into the world to restore our relationship with God and to defeat evil once and for all.  We will see the fulfillment of this peace in all things when Christ comes again.

DINNER:  In past years, I would make a traditional Filipino Christmas Dinner with Lola's help including lechon (a traditional way to roast pork), sticky rice and vinegar sauce.  I always add an american green in there.  Traditional Filipino veggies are hard to come by and harder to get used to eating (at least the kind I have tried!)  This year because of the change of venues and Lolo's special diet we didn't do dinner with his folks but it was a wonderful night full of stories and laughter.

ADVENT READINGS AND WREATH:  We read week 2 out of Christ in Christmas A Family Advent Celebration by Dobson, Swindoll, Boice, and Sproul. We also read Isaiah 9:6-7 and Luke 2:1-7.  

ITINERARY:  Each Advent Night runs about the same.  We start with dinner and then move to the activity and end the evening with The Advent Book by the Stockmans.

HOW TO: Making a Filipino Christmas Tree involves glueing tissue paper flowers to the tips of bare branches.  In the islands the kids would have found a bare mangrove branch to decorate.  In my opinion the end results reminds me of a cherry blossom tree. Lolo said that they actually have a tree in the Philipines that is very similar to the decorated tree but couldn't remember the name of it.  I tried to find it but it turns out that lots and lots and lots of trees flower in the islands and without Lolo I have no idea which he is referring to.

I love watching Lola work with her hands.  This year I documented it in photos.  From the top here are some simple directions for your very own tree.

We used streamers, according to Lola they are the closest we have here in the states to the kind of paper they would have used.  (Even the poorest families would have decorated a tree but used old newspaper instead.)  I purchased three colors.  Pink, white and green.  The branch is an oak branch out of the yard mounted on a wooden base. 

Fold the pink streamer on itself into a 2-3 inch rectangle.  Depending on how full you want your flower make the rectangle 4-6 layers.  Fold the rectangle in half length wise.  Cut a petal shape out keeping the folded side intact.  (According to Lola it can be any shape you want BUT hers are always a simple elongated shape with a small notch cut out of one tip.)  Fan the petals out.  

Repeat the first few steps with the white streamer making your rectangle half as large. This part isn't photographed.  Instead of cutting a petal shape simply cut the unfolded side of the folded rectangle into strips without cutting all the way through so it looks like fringe.  

Insert the white center into the pink petals.  Glue in place and twist the ends of the pink petals around the white center.  (Now when Lolo and Lola were children they used cornstarch and water with a bit of vinegar.  We just used good old Tacky glue.)  

Once the flower is together pick a branch and glue it on.  If the flower doesn't want to stick take a strip of green paper and wrap it around the base of the flower and branch.  

For the leaves follow the directions for the pink petals.  Then separate them and use one or two at a time.  glueing them to the branches in intervals.  

We also made white flowers with pink centers.  

My favorite shot of the night is the one of Lola's hands and Mera's hands working to place a flower on the selected branch.  Beautiful!

It was a wonderful afternoon and evening of hearing stories, teaching my kids about their heritage, and celebrating the birth of Christ.