Advent: A Family idea

Many years ago, when my children were very young, I read a book about Advent.  The author said during the Advent (Christmas) season people are more interested in spiritual things than any other time of the year.  The book gave many ideas for sharing Christmas with others.  In one chapter the book presented an idea that the best gift which could be given within families at Christmas was time.

The author said that Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year with activities, parties, shopping and travel.  Often we rob our children of the quality time they need and deserve in order to accomplish the tasks which seem so urgent.  The book suggested one way to reposition our family into their proper place of importance is to plan activites for the family and place them on the calendar as appointments.

I took the author’s suggestion, and created a calendar.  The first appointment I placed on the calendar was to eat either breakfast or dinner with my children every day. (Depending on school and church schedules this could vary … and was not easy to do.  But because I looked ahead and put this priority as an appointment, it did happen most days).  During our meal together we would read two short scriptures which were part of the Christmas story (I have a suggested calendar posted at http://www.koshercopy.com/ - look for the tab on the top bar which says “2015 Advent”).  I also placed on the calendar at least one activity per day which connected with the Christmas story.

Sometimes (when I was busy) the activity would be something our children could do with very little guidance (color wrapping paper; design and color cards for grandparents).  Other times the activities were more involved.  We went on field trips, acted out parts of the story, and every week we took one evening for a family night.

Family nights involved a dinner together.  Sometimes we tied these to the story, such as, during the week we highlighted the angel’s visit to the shepherds we built a fire in our fireplace and roasted hot dogs.  (I am sure the shepherds built a fire on cool nights - and because they had a fire, they must have roasted hot dogs and s’mores).  We also sang songs, told stories, and created skits in which we acted.  (My daughters like the skit where one of them was Joseph, the other was Mary, my wife was the Innkeeper, and I was the donkey.  Yes, Mary got to ride the donkey with Joseph leading).

All of these activities created memories.  And these memories proved to be much more powerful than the gifts we gave on Christmas day.  The end result: Christmas is about Jesus.

I have placed on our website the pamphlet with activities.  These activities are linked with our new book Advent Journeys.  The Journey diaries of Zechariah, Joseph, the Shepherd, the Magi and the Maccabee can be understood by most children in third grade and above.  The scripture (Calendar) along with the journal and activities shared with family members can lead to a most memorable Christmas.  Plan ahead and give it a try … starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Advent Traditions

   The Advent traditions of my family began almost thirty years ago in a young adult Sunday School class at University Baptist Church in Wichita, KS.  Our study for December included four lessons: Zechariah, Joseph, Shepherds and Magi.  In preparation for these lessons I picked up a book from our church library, the title of which I have long forgotten.  The book said the Christmas season is a great time to teach on spiritual things because people were more attune because it was the time of Jesus' birth.
   Members of the class I was teaching had young children, three of them born the same month as my oldest daughter, Chelsea.  The lessons I prepared that year included not only the scripture but also ideas for teaching our children the Bible stories on a preschool level.  I made a notebook for each member of the class (color coded by week).  The ideas presented in the notebook I continued to use and improve each year.
   As my daughters aged from preschool to young child to older elementary and then on into middle school I continued to develop the idea of Advent scripture and stories.  I added activities according to their age.  I picked up the idea of sharing finger plays from the Hutchinson, KS library.  Those were included in a new Advent schedule.
   I began to develop other activities in the schedule as my daughters reached five years of age and beyond.  These included a weekly family time with dinner, songs, a skit and the story.  One of the favorite stories was the trip of Joseph and Mary to find a room in Bethlehem.  One of the girls was Joseph, the other Mary.  I was the donkey (many people told me that was a good role for me) and Denise was the innkeeper.
   When the children entered elementary school in Apex, NC, I added more activities.  We prepared Christmas cards on the week the angels told the Shepherds of Jesus' birth.  We drew wrapping paper in the week we told of the gifts brought by the Magi.  We made care packages for our neighbors to minister to them.  We also saw a sheep farm (or sheep at the zoo), and Christmas programs.  Christmas grew to be a season we loved.
   When my daughters entered Middle School, I stopped reading the story as much, because I wanted them to be more self disciplined.  I put a story with their lunch each day, along with thought questions, activities we would do when they came home, and also with a game: word search, crossword, maze, or similar, which they could solve as they ate lunch.  We still have a notebook of these pages.
   The devotions came full circle as Sarah helped me write Advent Journeys, a Christmas devotional.  We had fun, and talked about some of the activities of the past.  I put out a pamphlet for others to enjoy for many years.  I will be putting the same ideas on our website in the very near future (this week I hope) so others can enjoy celebrating Advent with their families.
   To celebrate a fun Advent will bring families closer to the true meaning of the Christmas season.  I have found these activities to be the perfect antidote for consumerism so prevalent at this time of year.  Keep an eye out for the list ... and if you have other ideas, please share them.