Journey Through Advent: A Giveaway!

This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking one of the links, I make a small commission at no cost to you.  I was gifted a copy of Journey Through Advent in exchange for my review.  All thoughts are my own.

 

1. A Confession

I’m really bad at Adventing as an adult.

I spend a lot of time preparing, organizing, and planning to make Advent meaningful for my kids. Within the next couple weeks, I’ll start wrapping up all our books.   Readying the crafts.  Planning the gifts.   Sorting the decorations.  All that effort means I haven’t ever really had much energy to do anything spiritually fulfilling as an adult for Advent.

 

2.  Finding Some Sort of Something

I contemplated purchasing the beautiful 2018 devotional from Blessed Is She, Bearing Light.

Gorgeous.  Just gorgeous.  All the reviews are glowingly positive, too.

 

I have another confession, though.  When journals are so beautiful, I have a hard time actually writing in them.  Like whatever thoughts I have might not be worthy of such loveliness.  So I was on the lookout for something to help me grow in faith that was a little more basic.

 

3.  Another Option

As I was thinking about whether or not to make the leap with the BIS book, my dear friend Anni Harry from  A Beautiful, Camoflaged, Mess of a Life released an Advent devotional and offered me a copy in exchange for a review.

Hooray!  Maybe I’ll get on the Blessed Is She train another year.  This year I’m going with Journey Through Advent.

 

4.  The Details

The entire title of Anni’s book is  Journey Through Advent:  A Daily Advent Devotional for the Catholic Military Woman.  As a proud Army wife, Anni has a heart for everyone with ties to the armed forces.  She’s a Catholic revert and social worker turned writer/mom/faith formation director.

The daily readings, a reflection, a prayer, and an action step are listed for each day of Advent.  There is also space for journaling.  It’s important to note that the readings are not listed in their entirety, just the verses.  That means a Bible or the USCCB website are necessary companions for this journey toward Christmas.

Throughout the book, Anni asks thought-provoking questions gently.  The reflections are brief.  The action steps are doable.  Overall it’s an accessible and simple 55 pages while still being inspirational.

There are people who do an Advent meditation every year.  Or who already pray every day.  This would be a fitting addition to the bookshelves of those people.

However, Journey Through Advent struck me as being perfect for the person who maybe hasn’t done a devotional before.  Or for the person whose relationship status with God right now is “it’s complicated,” but wants to go deeper.  For the person who would like to pray more regularly, but isn’t sure how to start.  Wherever you may be,  Journey Through Advent offers an opportunity to reflect upon and develop a personal relationship with God.

 

 

5.  Wait.  Isn’t this just for Catholic “military women?”

Anni hopes that her book delivers three main messages to all who read it.

– Trust in God is what makes life (especially the military lifestyle) doable.
– Prayer can lift even the most wearied soul.
– Women who are struggling with God’s plan are backed by sisters in Christ who can lift them up when standing strong is too burdensome.

The primary audience for this devotional is “active duty, guardsman, reservist, veteran, and spouse populations.”   I am none of these and still found Journey Through Advent to be a quick and easy way to focus on faith as an adult this upcoming season.

There are a few acronyms and other military vocabulary words sprinkled around, but nothing that takes away from the overall effectiveness.  Here’s an example of how easily military specific ideas can be translated into civilian life:

Have you ever been asked why you (or your Servicemember) serves in the military?  How often is your response crediting the call by God to serve?

For me it would be easy for me to substitute “homeschool” for “serves in the military” when doing my reflecting that day.  Someone else may just insert their career or vocational status.

Although the ideas are probably particularly insightful for military women, all readers have probably moved to a new place and longed for community.  Struggling to hear God’s voice, accepting support from those nearby, living life with doubt and fear–  all those issues are universal.  You don’t have to jump out of an airplane to get something out of Journey Through Advent.

6.  A Giveaway!

Do you know someone who might benefit from this little book?  I’d love to gift a copy to a reader in the US.  (You don’t have to be enlisted, the mom of someone who is enlisted, the spouse of a veteran, etc.  Any Catholic woman would benefit from this little book.)

To enter leave a comment.  (Anything works.  Maybe list who you know that might enjoy a copy. Or offer a suggestion for Adventing as an adult.)

— Update:  Congratulations to the winner, Mary!–

 

 

7. Just in case you didn’t win, Journey Through Advent is available on Amazon.