For Christians worldwide, the month of December is filled with joy and wonder as we anticipate the celebration of Christ’s birth. There is no other time of the year that can compare to the Christmas season for both the young and young at heart.
From December to New Year’s Eve, reawaken the wonder, joy, and magic that is Christmas with daily scripture and inspirational readings of stories behind popular Christmas traditions, carols, and movies. Enjoy a wealth of fun activities to help make the most of the season, including heartwarming holiday recipes and homemade gift ideas.
With this soon-to-be-cherished holiday devotional, best-selling author Ace Collins will capture your imagination and help to make each day of December more memorable and meaningful to you, and those you love, by shining a light on the real spirit of the season.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is the perfect devotional for our family for this Advent season! Each year we choose a plan for working our way through Advent. One year we made our own Jesse tree and studied references to Jesus in his Old Testament family tree. Another year we divided up the New Testament story and journaled it with words and drawings.
This year, though, we’ll be working our way through with Ace Collins’ new book, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. I love the format of this book: each day concludes a devotional reading with scripture, song lyrics and their backstory, and something to do, usually a recipe or crafty idea. I love how a theme is woven through each day’s story, making a strong point and forcing the reader to consider some aspect of this Christmas season in a new way. Collins makes a strong case for joy and for remembering the reason for the season – but he goes deeper than that.
I love the way that Collins explains the story behind so many of our favorite traditions. By bringing to the forefront the reason why we sing certain songs, decorate with red and green, and so much more, it refreshes the spirit and makes the seasonal work lighter. Honestly, over the past few years I’ve come to dread certain aspects of my former-favorite traditions, only because they create so much work in such a short period of time; but knowing the reason behind so many of them makes me look forward to them again. Many things I’ve heard before, of course, but somehow Collins puts a unique spin on them that makes the ideas seem fresh and new.
While The Most Wonderful Time of the Year isn’t specifically marketed for kids or for families, I think it will be perfect for mine. The combination of history, scripture, and activity will be a great way for us to start our day during the Advent season. I know that we won’t be making all of the cookies that he shares, but the specialty recipes will be fun to read nonetheless, and it might inspire us to try some new ones, too. With our kids now ages nine and eleven, they’re old enough to understand the historical context and the scripture and to participate in the projects, too; in fact, they could do most of them independently.
If you, too, like to change up your devotional reading during Advent or just want to know more about the historical traditions connected with our faith, be sure to check out The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
I received a free copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity. All opinions are my own.
What are your thoughts?