WHEN MY CHILDREN were young, I once saw how to make your own chocolate Advent calendar on a television programme. Being keen on arts and crafts, this seemed to be an ideal task for me. So, without further ado I began on the project.

Firstly, you had to draw your picture on thick cardboard, examples of this being a snowman, Santa Claus, star or bell. You had to collect twenty-five plastic milk bottles and cut off the screw tops and the surrounding piece of plastic. You then had to attach these to the picture, suitably spaced and cover the area with cotton wool, spraying it the appropriate colour or leaving it white for the snowman.

Finally, when you’ve completed the picture’s details, numbered the lids and filled each little plastic screw off ‘window’ with a chocolate or sweet, Hey Presto! your Advent calendar is completed!

As I have four children, this of course meant four calendars and they took up a huge amount of room in the home. They were big and heavy when finished, as well. In retrospect, it appeared to have been a lot of effort for a less than average result.

Each Advent, we, as Christians, put in our own effort as we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We try to use this time productively to consider our own spirituality, giving thanks for all we have received and praising God.