Celebrating the Season of Advent… wait, What IS Advent??

December 1st.  Going up on the side of the oak cupboard at the edge of the kitchen is a calendar.  A small, stuffed Santa peers over the edge of the pocket in the top left corner.  He waits for little fingers to move him along, finding treats and family events on the 24 day journey.  I remember the calendar.  I remember driving through neighborhoods, wide-eyed at Christmas lights.  I remember decorating the tree, gardening gloves adorning the luckiest hands.  I remember a zoo soaked in color and light, and a fireplace topped with milk and cookies for a middle-of-the-night guest.

The traditions my parents worked so hard to establish for our family when I was growing up are now treasures buried deep in my heart.  And this year, I want to begin building these traditions for my own young family.  But as I thought about creating an advent calendar, I was struck with the realization that I don’t even know what advent is!  I remember the calendar.  I don’t remember the advent calendar. 

I wasn’t about to hang up a calendar that I didn’t even know the meaning of.  (There’s enough of those traditions floating around during the holiday season, aren’t there?)  So I looked it up.

1. a coming into place, view, or being; arrival: the advent of the holiday season.

2. ( usually initial capital letter ) the coming of Christ into the world.

3. ( initial capital letter ) the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world.

4. ( usually initial capital letter ) Second Coming.

 

An advent is an arrival. 

 

Advent, for the Christian, is a celebration of three things:

1 – The past birth of Christ.  The arrival of God in the form of man into the world.

2 – The future Second Coming of Christ.  The arrival of Christ to redeem His own and give the final gift of eternal salvation to all who believe.

3 – The anticipation we live in now, in between these two arrivals, and the call on our lives to live in readiness, walk in humility and kindness, and respond to God with our obedience, as a result of a repentant and thankful heart for the gift of Christ.

 

So simple.  So beautiful.  And what an amazing way to teach a young family about what we are celebrating during the Christmas season.  I am so excited to celebrate this Advent season and acknowledge the anticipation of the world that led up to the birth of Christ, and the anticipation of my own heart as I wait for my eternal salvation.

 

Advent can be celebrated in many ways.  It is the heart humbled before God, in waiting, that is important.  Two of the more common Protestant ways of celebrating this season are with a Jesse Tree and with an Advent Calendar.  This year, we’re going with the calendar. 

 

There are so many ways to do an advent calendar.  I will just share with you how we will celebrate this year.  Again, it’s the heart of humility and remembrance and anticipation that is important, whatever your celebration looks like.

 

We will use The Jesus Storybook Bible as our guide, reading one story each day, from Creation all the way to the birth of Christ (on Christmas morning).  I absolutely LOVE this Bible!  It’s a children’s Bible, but I’d be lying if I said it’s never had me in tears before!  This Bible is appropriate for advent readings because included in every Bible story narrative is the way in which the story points to the coming of Christ.  Every Old Testament event leads to the gift of the Savior and God’s “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love” that caused Him to send for us, His children, a “Rescuer.”

 

 

 

At the beginning of each day we will read the story from this special Bible, and then draw the little gold card out of the pocket on our advent calendar.  Each day is a different activity.  Our activities are not necessarily synched with the reading; they are all fun things to do as a family that excitedly lead up to Christmas day and our celebration of Christ come into the world.  Many of our activities are based around events happening in our own lives and community, so yours will be different, of course.  But this list might help give you a jumping off point if you are celebrating with an advent calendar this season.  Here’s what we’re doing:

 

1 – Give a gift (to a family in need, our church pantry, or local rescue mission)

2 – A special candy for Maddox

3 – Go to my husband’s work Christmas party (a family affair)

4 – Go to the tree farm and pick out our (FIRST EVER!) live Christmas tree

5 – Decorate the tree

6 – Make gingerbread houses

7 – Pick out new tree ornaments (each family member picks one new ornament for 2011)

8 – Give a gift (to a family in need, our church pantry, or local rescue mission)

9 – Go to a live nativity

10 – Go to the local Ranch for an evening of Christmas fun

11 – Electric Safari at the zoo

12 – A special candy for Maddox

13 – Make gingerbread men cookies

14 – Toddler Time at the library

15 – Give a gift (to a family in need, our church pantry, or local rescue mission)

16 – Getaway to the mountains

17 – See a local church Christmas production

18 – Watch a Christmas movie

19 – Deliver gifts to our friends and neighbors

20 – Free family day at the Fine Arts Center

21 – Give a gift (to a family in need, our church pantry, or local rescue mission)

22 – Hot cocoa for dessert

23 – Drive the city to tour Christmas lights

24 – Attend Christmas Eve service with visiting family

 

 

The 25th is not included on the calendar, but we will have our final reading that morning; the birth of Christ, and then celebrate that which we have been anticipating.

 

If you’re thinking of starting your own advent calendar, it’s not too late!  Start the celebration wherever you are, however you can.  It’s always the heart that matters. 

 

 

How do you celebrate Advent?  What are some traditions that you enjoy burying in the hearts of your loved ones during this special season?