Chicken Soup for….

Remember all those Chicken Soup for the Soul books?  

They started making them for different types of souls : the teenager, the woman, America. (seriously, Google it.)  I’ll admit it. I read and enjoyed these when I was growing up.  I love a feel good story that can lift the spirits and inspire.  

In my experience, there is no time quite so inspiring and challenging as the Holidays.  

Halloween until the New Year is a season that throws us into a cultural and religious phenomenon that can easily overwhelm.  While the Holidays are jam-packed with fun and excitement, they can also be a time of increased worry, anxiety, and isolation.

Add to this that the days are growing shorter and the light is, literally, less present and it can get down right depressing.

Advent Soup

So, I’ve put together an Advent version of chicken soup for 7 kinds of souls and situations that, if applied, can help you and your loved ones through the Holidays.  

In the Christian tradition, there are two especially sacred times of year: 1) All saints through Advent, climaxing with the celebration of the Christ child’s birth on Christmas and ending with Epiphany, and 2.) Ash Wednesday through Holy Week, known as Lent, ending with the celebration of Jesus’s Resurrection on Easter.

While many Christians approach Lent and Easter with intentional devotion and spiritual discipline we have forgotten that in ages past the same approach was applied to Advent.  

Food for the Journey

This year, I am longing for a way to deepen my relationship with the Divine.

I am looking for a practice of prayer that can help to strengthen the center of my life on the goodness of God and not the chaos of this world. I am seeking a way to embrace this season of darkening as a spiritual practice to enrich my vocation and personal life. 

 So, as an Advent gift to you and to myself, I’m putting together 7 ways to approach the holidays based on my work and experience of the season.  

Choose one and see how it inspires your journey through the holidays.

Share this with a loved one- or ten- and let me know if it helps and how!

7 Ways to Approach the Holidays for the…

1. Restless Soul: Weekly Labyrinth Walk with “The Magnificat”

• Locate a local labyrinth (international labyrinth locator) or create a table labyrinth.
• Walk/walk your finger through the labyrinth every Saturday or Sunday each week of Advent (5 weeks beginning 4 Sundays before Christmas Eve).  
• Print off “The Magnificat”, or take your Bible and when you reach the center read “The Magnificat,” Luke 1: 46-55. 
• Stay at the center until you feel ready to walk back out while meditating on the scripture that you read.  

2. Anxious Soul: Daily Running/Elliptical with Isaiah

• Pick a daily time to go for a run or go to the gym. 
• Then, print Isaiah 60: 19-22 and carry it with you.  
• Read it before and after each 20-45 min running/elliptical session. 
• Meditate on it during your run/elliptical workout.   

3. Married Soul: Daily Devotional with your Spouse

• Pick a Devotional ( I recommend  A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God;  or Celtic Daily Prayer 
• Pick the same time (approx 15-20 min.) and space to read the devotional with your spouse. Starting on the 4th Sunday before Christmas Eve.  (I recommend taking turns reading.  If your schedules don’t align everyday to allow for this time together in the same space then agree on a time when you can both read it individually and be in prayer for each other.)
• After the devotional reading take 3-5 minutes to be in prayer, silently or aloud, for your spouse. 
• Share with your spouse what came to the surface during the readings and silent prayer time.  ( if you’re doing the devotional at different times then check in daily via email or text, if possible, to tell your spouse what came to the surface during the devotional reading).  

4. Spiritual but not religious Soul: Gratitude Journal  

• Pick a designated spot to write the daily happenings that you are grateful for. (I recommend a notebook by the bedside or a Jar in the kitchen.
• Note any times that you experienced goodness, guidance by the Divine, or an unexpected blessing. 
• For added depth, I recommend reading Psalm 43:3-6 when you finish your journaling each day. 

5. Child’s Soul: The 25 Days to Christmas Jessie Tree Craft

• Print out these amazing, free, Jessie Tree Ornaments by Calabash Card Co.
• Cut out the ornaments write the number they go in and the corresponding scripture reference on the back.
• Decorate the ornaments with your kiddos- go to town coloring, painting, glitter glueing, and bedazzling them. 
• Each day in Advent (beginning the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve) hang a different one on your tree daily, as you read the scripture that goes along with the symbol.  

6. Feeling Lost Soul: Spiritual Direction

• Choose a Spiritual Director ( To find a Spiritual Director near you visit: https://fumsdrl.org/public-directory/ or https://shalem.org.)
• Set up a weekly appointment with your Spiritual Director for the 4 weeks of Advent (the 4 weeks preceding Christmas Eve.)
• Go into the first session with a particular question, intention, or goal in mind.  (I recommend, Abba, Give Me A Word, you want an easy read to help you decide  your intention.)

7. Family’s Soul:  Advent Wreath and Scripture Reading

• Make an Advent Wreath with your family the Saturday before Advent begins (Advent begins 4 Sundays before Christmas Eve.)
•  Light the corresponding candle(s) and read the nightly scriptures together each evening.  ( Click here for Protestant Advent Scripture reading or here for Catholic Advent Scripture readings)

I pray that your Advent journey is blessed and full of reinvigorating hope and love for the days ahead.  Let me know which Soul journey you tried on comments, Facebook and Instagram!

Blessings Y’all,

Rev.Wren