Advent Calendar with a twist…
Well, we have in the past used Advent calendars for countdown to Christmas, but until now it wasn’t with much effort did we truly become aware of Christ’s birth. Of course as Christians, we assume the significance of the birth of Christ, but as the world becomes worldlier than Godly, I feel most of us have strayed away. In effort to become more aware of the significance and importance of Christmas Day…we are changing things up a bit.
Even though I would like to research more about Advent, this year we are doing an Advent countdown activity. I recently received a great ready-made Advent countdown calendar from a great friend who has helped me out more than once. :) With the calendar, we just don’t countdown (or actually count-up to the 25th of December), but it also includes a short devotion to do with the children. I read somewhere else where a family used brown bags, as a way to include little gifts/notes for Advent, and so I have incorporated the calendar with the brown bags. Like the author of the 'brown bag special', eventually we will get creative as the years go by…I am sure of it.
As an example of one bag, let’s take 12th of December for example. My brown bag has the symbol (clip art) of a Cross. Makes the children wonder….what about the Cross? Well, we all know that the Cross is a symbol related to Jesus, but why? Then the note goes on to ask us to read Philippians 2: 1-11. We will read the verses together and have a short discussion (if needed) or maybe they can use the verses for penmanship or art project.
We will also do other activities related to Christmas, like a quick study on how Christmas is celebrated around the world, and I love Grapevine Studies as well. For Grapevine, I have The Announcement e-book the New Testament e-book which includes Birth of Christ and other studies (that I used for our History and Bible lessons during school...
This gives us each day--starting today and then leading up to Christmas Day, a better understanding of who Christ is and why we celebrate HIS birthday and the meaning of it as well. Something that sticks in my mind when I think about Christmas –is that Christmas Day is His Birthday and not our own.
We are changing the way we view Christmas, now and in the future, to have a more Christ-centered Christmas; the way it should be celebrated.
If you have any great suggestions, please share them!! ;) Thank you.
3 comments:
We have been doing the Jesse Tree advent this year, as we did last year. This year we are using the one from Ann Voskamp. Last year we had to change some things, as the one we used was Catholic based. Family gathering daily to learn about Christ during this season is a wonderful break from the materialistic pull to "buy". We have pulled back the budget, and slowed down the season. We love it!
Thank you Samantha for the wonderful ideas. Yes, it has been a stress-free Christmas season!! :) We will also limit our budget to three gifts, but whether or not the Hubby puts that into action is another question... LOL!! Merry Christmas! :)
Love what you are doing for it this year, Jessica! :) I'm still not sure how we are going to do it. Just Bible readings and talking about it...
Post a Comment
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!! Come back soon! Sincerely, Jessica