Advent

One of our goals this Christmas, was to spend time praying for others. We enjoyed it so much at Easter, and again at Thanksgiving, that we knew that it had to be a part of our Advent celebration. (Plus it was something that would be easy to do if we were blessed with the early arrival of our new baby....or if I was too tired/sore to do other activities).

We had pre-written names on angels, and added two (or more) almost every evening. It was so neat to see the "heavenly hosts" grow each evening.

The boys have really enjoyed this activity. They love picking a new angel and finding out whose name is on it. We have had to stop dinner multiple times to pick an angel. Once the angel is on the wall, we have to" pray again for the people." It's been neat to see how important this activity is to Joel and how much he has grown through it.

Alongside our prayer wall, we have also lit the advent wreath every night. The boys adore this...but probably because they love blowing out candles. Each Sunday (and sometimes during the week if Joel insists), we say a special advent prayer. I found a child friendly advent prayer that is basic enough for the boys to understand. They seem to enjoy it.

We also read a Scripture (Joel calls it a "criwsper") a day. The Christmas story was broken down into short readings, followed by a question. We have loved hearing the boys answer questions ranging from "Who is Jesus?" to "What brings you joy?"  It has focused our meal time conversation and allowed us to dig deeper into Scripture as a family. It has also allowed us to peek into Joel's brain and see what parts of the Christmas story he is retaining and how he has translated it.

As if a prayer wall, advent candles and a Scripture weren't enough, we also had an advent activity calendar. It was filled with Christmas activities ranging from driving to see Christmas lights, to crafts, to reading a Christmas story. Oddly enough, this calendar was the first to be thrown aside.  We found ourselves too busy this month to add those types of activities to our lives. Between midwife appointments, chiropractor visits, birthday parties, the last few days of work and various other Christmas related activities, our days were too busy to add a craft or story to our lives. Or rather, the boys had no desire to do any. On the days we were home, they just wanted to play. So, about 3 days in we scraped the advent activity calendar and never looked back. Sure, we did do a few activities, but we never stuck to the day to day activity. I knew at the beginning of the Advent season, that I would give myself grace, and not force ourselves to do the activity if it became too much. What I didn't realize was that it would become overwhelming earlier than I expected. But, it was a blessing in disguise. We have spent more time together as a family, putting together puzzles, chatting about the future or putting Legos together. It was a blessing in disguise.

This advent season has been full of blessings. One of our main goals was to have the boys know the Christmas story by the end of December. We also wanted to focus more on Jesus and less on anything else. And also to spend time together as a family. 

We have accomplished those things and so much more. We have felt the richness of the season, as it embeds itself into our children. We have seen their wonder grow as they ask poignant questions and answer ones we ask. We have seen the importance of prayer and praying for our friends and family. We have seen Jesus infiltrate our lives and remind us of the real reason for the season.