As I write this, Christmas is just a few days away. We’ve had an interesting Advent season, far different from what I expected. Plenty of sickness, some adventurous haircutting by a 3-yr. old, a broken bone, jury duty… But then again, when do we ever truly know what to expect out of life? God is in charge, and we can learn to roll with it and trust Him, or we can get frustrated and lose our sense of peace. The sickness is mostly gone from the house, the hair will grow back, the bone (our eldest daughter’s) should be able to heal without surgery (praise the Lord!), and I was relieved of jury duty for the case I was called in for, and the last case for the year settled out of court, so my term is up. What happened during those weeks was enough to throw of my plans to finish some unfinished craft projects and make a bunch of Christmas gifts, so I’ve had to pivot. That got me thinking about how I plan and prepare for Christmas, not just during Advent, but throughout the year.

Truthfully, my plans for Christmas often begin taking shape in about February or March. There have been plenty of years where we have gifted bottles of maple syrup at Christmas time, but tapping trees happens around the end of February, and our first syrup is typically ready around mid-March. That means that I’m bottling syrup as it finishes on the stovetop. Now, I could bottle it later, taking it from a larger vessel and putting it into a smaller one, but that’s not how I would normally do it. If we get enough syrup in a given year, I’ll make maple sugar. (Just don’t do it if you know you could get interrupted during the stirring process, or you could end up with disastrous results.) Maple sugar can be used to cure meats and in all kinds of recipes as a substitute for other sugar, though it does need a little extra know-how to get the right results, and you can use the large grains that are sifted out to sprinkle on top of the fat of a pork belly to get the most amazing, melt-in-your-mouth results. Whether these things are used for special ingredients in a Christmas feast or as gifts, I consider how to ration throughout the year so that I have what is needed when Christmas finally arrives.

Chickens often stop laying eggs in the winter months, so if you’ve been without eggs for months, the springtime glut is often more than you can keep up with. Water-glassing eggs is one way to preserve them for winter baking, but eggs can be frozen as well, and some people will dehydrate them for use later on. This winter-time lull is something to keep in mind in spring, because when winter rolls around again, you’ll be happy to have saved some of the excess from the warm months to allow you to do the Christmas baking.

Alternatively, doughs, baked goods, and meals can be frozen for extended periods of time, if properly packaged, and that may also be a way to use eggs up in the moment and prepare for the fall and winter baking. Though freezing is not my preferred method of preservation, I am always grateful to be able to pull homemade freezer meals, desserts, or pie crusts from the freezer when life is getting hectic, which is certainly not an uncommon phenomenon during the Advent season. This past year, I used extra eggs to make some French toast casserole to freeze, and sometimes I will freeze other breakfast casseroles to be used later on. It’s nice to have breakfast for the Christmas season ready to go!

In the later months of spring and into early summer, many a homesteader is busy making jams and jellies from berries, and at least a few of those jars are set aside to give as Christmas gifts. As we continue through the growing season, other food we harvest may be prepared and preserved specially to give as gifts at Christmastime: honey spiced peaches, pie fillings, soup in a jar… you name it, and somebody is probably preserving it to give as a gift. And if it’s not being given as a gift, it might be earmarked for Christmas dinner. Pumpkins and apples can be turned into pies

This year, I’m making a loaded mashed potato casserole for Christmas dinner with my side of the family, and I’ll be using our potatoes, homemade bacon, and chives from the garden. This isn’t something I particularly planned for in advance, but when I grow potatoes each year, I know there’s a good chance I’ll be using some of them for meals with the extended family, like at Christmas or Easter. My family often cooks up turkey to make shredded turkey and gravy for Christmas. This year, we didn’t raise any birds for butchering, but next year, we might raise the turkey for Christmas dinner.

In the fall, we press our own cider with apples from our trees (and sometimes from neighbors, friends, and family), and I always save some for Christmastime. Guests love having hot cider (as do we), and if we have enough cider, I can it in smaller jars to gift for Christmas. Since we butcher our own meat, I often package at least some of the meat into smaller portions so that they can be gifted to various people. We also make our own sausage (particularly breakfast sausage links and bratwurst), and if I plan ahead well, I can package that accordingly to give as gifts.

Our homestead has no lack of crafting skills and projects, so oftentimes, throughout the year, gifts are made. I usually do the bulk of the gift-making in October, November, and December, once the outdoor homestead activities slow down. Sewing, crocheting, painting… you name it, we make it: blankets, dresses, toys, artwork. This year, we grew Job’s Tears for rosary making, and I made a few extra to give as gifts. It is also not uncommon for me to make a new Christmas dress or skirt for myself or the girls. This year, I did something a little different, and I saved some of the goose’s feathers to turn into quill pens, and I made a couple of handmade Christmas cards using the pens to write.

Decorations go up slowly during the month of December, and I wait longer and longer to put up our tree with each passing year so that we remember that Advent is not Christmas. Our tree is taken from somewhere on the property, and they are always sparse, scraggly, white pines. They aren’t the most perfect trees, and yet they are. Sometimes we make ornaments for the tree, other years we use some from years past, and often it’s a combination.

Christmas is first and foremost about the Incarnation of Christ, but it is a sign of God’s love for us, that He would humble himself to be born among us. I love that He didn’t come in a palace, with pomp and spectacle. He didn’t arrive in a nice house or even in a house, but in a stable, amongst the animals, ready to love us and save us and show us what it means to love. Love is self-sacrificing. Love takes time. Love is thoughtful and generous. Loving means we want good things for others. Christmas is a time when people think beyond themselves to the wants and needs of others. It’s a collective effort to love one another. It can be easy to get wrapped up in gift-giving (or receiving), or the parties and feasting and miss the point.

This year, I won’t be giving as many home-preserved foods or handmade gifts. Our decorating and baking have been sparse to say the least. I didn’t remember to package smaller portions of meat or jars of cider or bottles of syrup, and that’s okay. It wasn’t the year for that. But I’m now more aware of all of the planning I normally do throughout the year to celebrate the Incarnation, and that’s a good thing! How much more mindful and prayerful can I be throughout the coming year? Now I realize how much thought I typically give to others in my work throughout the year, and that in itself is a wonderful thing. Jesus didn’t just come for one day or 33 years, He came for all time, and we should ponder that throughout the year, not just on December 25th or through the Christmas season. If we can reach beyond ourselves and think about others and love them all year long, then the “magic” of Christmas will stay with us as Christ intended.