Christian faith

Years ago, when the kids were really, really small, I taught preschool – and although I’m certified to teach that, I had never worked a in traditional preschool, and I didn’t have the usual bag of tricks to use.

So when Christmas rolled around, I wanted to give the kids something that they could use to prepare themselves for Christmas – something kid-friendly.

Something that was not gluing cotton balls on Santa’s beard.

I wanted something more meaningful than that, but I couldn’t find anything – and so my pastor helped me write an Advent plan for preschoolers.

Since then, our Advent journey has changed a lot.  We don’t do the same thing every year, although much of what we do happens as a whole family, and many things have become traditions that we all look forward to.

However we’re celebrating, I’m trying to make sure that we don’t lose sight of Jesus as the reason for all of the hubbub and commotion.

So, in random order, here’s how we’ll be celebrating Advent this year:

• The kids and I are going to use the Scripture Advent Journal each morning after breakfast.  I gave the first page to them yesterday, along with a large package of Melk the Christmas Monkey will be making an appearance in our house this year.  He’s not going to be a daily guest, as the season is just too busy for that – but the great thing about the Melk program is that it’s flexible.  We can incorporate Melk with some things that we already do, and we can make it as involved as we want it to be – and each activity points to Jesus.  I can’t wait until the day that we make a wreath!  My Big Helper loves to decorate, and she’ll love learning about the meaning behind that tradition.
• We light Advent candles.  Once each week during Advent, on a night when we’re staying at home all evening, we begin dinner with the Advent wreath.  My husband reads a portion of scripture, and then I light the appropriate candles.  We talk about what each candle symbolizes and what the scripture means while we …
• Eat dinner by candlelight.  We turn off all of the lights in the kitchen, light a few tapers on the table, and eat by the light of those and the Advent wreath alone.  On non-wreath nights, we eat by the light of the tapers.  It creates a cozy hush around the table, discourages eye-wandering and mail-reading (you can find something to read wherever you go in our house if you’re not picky) and reminds us that this night, this time, this season – it’s all special.  It reminds us that Jesus is our Light.  It’s all leading up to something wonderful and miraculous, and it builds our anticipation.
• We’ll go on our annual Christmas Family Date Day.  About a week before Christmas, my husband will take the day off from work, and we’ll head out altogether.  We’ll first tackle some sort of mission project to spread some Christmas cheer – delivering cards to a nursing home, taking stuffed animals to the fire station – whatever need we’ve found this year.  Then we head out of town to enjoy a day together.  We usually have a nice dinner somewhere, and then do something fun, like seeing a Christmas movie or going ice skating.  If we head into any stores, we actively look for shopping carts not in cart returns that need to get put away.  Maybe moms with their hands full, or people with mobility problems, or just carts endangering vehicles – we’ll try to help them all get the carts put away safely.  We end the day by driving around and looking at Christmas lights.

 Do you celebrate Advent?  What does it look like at your house?

 

 So … the Crayola Twistables thing might seem random, but it’s not.  I’m working on a new Bible project for kids, and Twistables are the perfect medium for this – they apply smoothly, you can read through them, and they blend and layer well.  I wanted my kids to have a set in preparation for that, and getting them now worked well for us.  More about that to come – but in the meantime, if you’ve never tried Twistables, they’re definitely worth checking out.

Do the shopping lists, gift wrapping, and overall craziness of the Christmas season get to you?  It sure does to me – and so I’ve been trying to find simple ways to carve out pockets of peace in the midst of it all.  Candles play an important role in that – and they’ve become special to the whole family, too.

Find out more in my Guest Post over at Blessed Beyond a Doubt.