Jeanne over at At a Hen’s Pace is hosting the first-ever Carnival of Anglican Advent Traditions on Tuesday. Head on over and get some great ideas for celebrating the season of Christ’s birth with your family.
We are trying some new things in our house this season. I’m keeping my eyes out for a really special Advent calendar and Advent wreath. Until I find one, we are using a store-bought paper Advent calendar on our fridge, and we are lighting some random candles around our nativity scene each night while we have a Christmas-themed story time. My oldest is just starting to separate fact from fiction and to develop her own personal piety, so I really long to develop some Christian traditions that work for us this year. This is also the first year since we moved here that we will not go South for Christmas, so I pray that it will be a really special time for our family.
Other than the above, I’ve borrowed this Advent devotional from the library for myself. And I hope we’ll read the Christmas story from Luke before we open our gifts Christmas morning to keep our focus where it belongs.
I’m looking forward to getting some great ideas from the rest of you.
Most of all, I’m trying this year to catch my children’s enthusiasm for the season. Not officially Advent yet? No bother, I’m making use of the teachable moments. If the world wants to worship Christ through music incessantly for days on end, I’ll take it. I’ll revel in it with my twirling children.
I’ll bake cookies with them. I’ll order early Christmas cards. I’ll think about gifts before I’m ready. I’ll put to death my earthly curmudgeon, and make room in my heart for a new baby.
God bless you and yours this season.
I’m looking for an Advent wreath too! I’m thinking of making my own…not sure how, but I’ll figure it out!
One of my friends here is part of an Episcopal church, and they had a family night last December and their church body gathered to make an advent wreath with fresh greenery, berries, etc. They each took home a wreath, the candles, and an Advent devotions book. I think she told me they printed it off the internet.
Doesn’t that sound like fun…an Advent-wreath-making party?? If I figure out how to make a wreath, I might just host a party!
An advent wreath making party does sound fun. I love the smell of fresh greenery. But I also love the idea of not having to make something every year! Just some berries, branches and candles could be nice too though. I always have to consciously remember not to make things harder than they need to be.
“I’ll put to death my earthly curmudgeon” - that phrase is so splendidly funny!
Thanks for sharing your ideas and for participating in the carnival!
If you’re looking for something extra special in the advent calander department, I’ll share a link with you that has some really wonderful ones… the link is at Christmas Treasures. They are a bit of an investment, but we’ve never regretted ours and the focus it brings to the meaning of the season. We chose the Byers’ Choice Nativity Advent Calendar and it is just beautiful. Hope you find something special!
Oops - that link didn’t work… here it is…
Christmas Treasures
[...] there are two little nuggets I gleaned last week that I wanted to share. This post from Blog in my Eye and the chapel message given Friday by my colleague Roger Lundin (available for [...]
For advent last year we created a series of paper “stockings” which we hung on strings above our fireplace. I wrote an activity of some kind on the back of each and let the children pick one per day. They looked forward to the choosing as well as the activities and the dwindling stocking helped them keep track of how many days were left.
You can find more specifics in my blog archives (Dec 06) if you’re interested.
[...] me of one of my all-time favorite dreams that is quite appropriate to our recent discussions of all things Advent. I was in my twenties when I had this dream, recently married, probably with a lot of angst related [...]