Celebrating Advent

Many families are trying to bring real meaning back into their Christmas holiday.  There is so much commercialism today that moms and dads are struggling to grow meaning and appreciation in the hearts of their children regarding Christmas.

Celebrating Advent is a fabulous way to incorporate a tradition based on the real meaning of Christmas along with encouraging excitement, joy and anticipation in your children.

Advent means "coming" or "arrival of something extremely important."  So it is a way to celebrate and get ready for Christmas day by remembering Christ's birth.

There are many different ideas and ways to celebrate the Advent Season.  It all begins four Sundays before Christmas day and ends on Christmas Eve.

*Make an Advent Wreath - The green wreath is a circle symbolizing life and the candles represents each Sunday until Christmas.  Three of the candles should be purple meaning royalty and penitence.  One candle will be rose meaning celebration.  In the middle of these four candles is a white candle that is saved and lit on Christmas Day.  You can pray each week when you light the candles and read from the Bible.

*A Crèche - My sisters does a version of this by having a nativity scene that "travels" every day of Advent to the stable.  Her boys get so enthusiastic about looking around the house to see where Mary and Joseph are as they draw closer to the Nativity Stable.  On Christmas Day they place Jesus in the manger and the scene is complete.

*An Advent Prayer Chain or Scripture Chain - Use construction paper and either write prayer requests or Scripture verses on each piece of the chain.  Go through each one together as a family until Christmas.

*Have a Family Blessings Jar - Each person in the family writes something they are thankful for every day during Advent.  On Christmas Day you can gather as a family and empty out the jar reading them all together as a family and thanking Jesus for your blessings.

*An Advent Calendar - This can be the kind that has chocolate behind the doors or as mine does, a tiny Nativity ornament. Each day I have my children take turns opening the tiny door and discovering what is behind it as they hang it on the hooks above and slowly make the Nativity scene complete.  There is a corresponding Bible Verse we read each day also.

Don't forget that there are other fun Advent activities you can do during this time like making Advent cookies, giving gifts to the needy, or having a "Jesse Tree" where one ornament is hung each day during Advent.

Whether your family chooses to use one or all of these ideas, I pray that this simple but meaningful tradition will become a special time together as a family in your home as you "Count - Down" to Christmas.