Today was the first day of Advent. We have never celebrated Advent before, but as we grow in our faith, teaching our boys about the true meaning of Christmas is priority.
I have the book, "Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration". Each Sunday in Advent, there is a family time that includes a couple of songs, a prayer, a passage from the Bible, a decotional, and a family activity.
Tonight, DH read Isaiah 9:2-6
We sang "Away in a Manger" and "Jesus Loves Me"
I read a devotional and we talked about a few od the Christmas traditions we like:
‘A’ likes the presents
‘R’ likes candles
DH likes the angel candle thing where the candles heat a little windchime that rings bell (Our other one broke; I need to get a new one.) He also likes putting up Christmas lights and decorating the tree.
I like playing Christmas music, and opening one gift on Christmas Eve (new PJs).
We also talked about what we can do as a family to keep the true meaning of Christmas alive. We plan on participating in Advent, and ‘A’ said to continue praying.
We did an activity where we were all together in our dark bathroom. I then lit a candle for each of us. We talked about how it felt to be in the dark versus having light. Which was more helpful? How darkness can never vanquish light, and even the smallest amount of light can always vanquish darkness. How Jesus is the light in our lives.
There are short readings for the rest of the week until next Sunday…
It's so great to hear of other families participating in Advent! We started probably eight years ago, and now it seems like our kids (15, 13, and 12) are all bored with it. It might be time to do something new during our nightly celebrations to keep their attention! But what? I'll be spending some time on Google today, I think! By the way, we use the same book you're using — it's wonderful!
Love the snow pictures you posted. I've been meaning to do the same. Great snowman (that would be the perfect picture for your Christmas cards)! Wasn't all that snow on Saturday fun? It was gone too quickly!
Have a great day!
Sally