As a child, the word Advent really only pertained to this calendar that my mom put on our back door that was numbered up until Christmas day. She would place a small candy cane in the pocket of which day we were on. I remember waking up each morning though, and going to the Advent calendar, as she would sometimes leave us a special surprise in the pocket.
Although I'd heard Advent talked about throughout my life, I really hadn't given it much more attention than that calendar though. So when I saw these books, and the study from She Reads Truth, I really wanted to be able to slow down this year and prepare my heart for this season.
The first book I'm reading is on my Kindle and is written by Louie Giglio. If you've never heard this man speak, you are missing out. This book has entries that are dated as of November 26th, so I went ahead this morning and read, read, read to catch up. There is a scripture, a small devotional passage, a meditation, and a short prayer for each day. Just having read the preface of this book though, I already learned quite a few things. One thing I hadn't really considered before was that from the time of the last Old Testament prophet Malachi, to the time of Jesus' birth, there was a 400 year time span where God was silent. Four. hundred. years. And we get upset by not having our prayers answered in a few
I am also reading Ann Voskamp's The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. This reading starts on December 1st, so I've only read the Introduction for now. The basis of this book though is to create a Jesse Tree and to add an ornament each day according to the reading. You can learn more about Jesse Tree's here and here, but it is more or less a family tree that shows the generational progression to Jesus' birth. Voskamp's book also provides a link for you to use to download her version of the ornaments for the Jesses tree. I am thinking that this year, with Max still being so young, I am just going to do this on my own and add them to even a paper cut out of a tree. I honestly really didn't even intend to do the tree, but I think it would be memorable and meaningful, so I'll give it a go!
Next year, when Max is a little older, I intend to buy this book, which is written again by Ann Voskamp. It goes pretty much in line with the previous book, but is more family friendly - illustrated pages and activities to do at the end of each day's reading (praying for people, thanking God for Jesus' arrival, etc.).
However, this year, I did get this book for Max. It's a 9 day trek that takes you through the various characters that were present for the birth of Jesus and shares the story through their perspective. Max will be receiving the Little People Nativity before Christmas, so I plan to use this book and this toy together.
The last one I want to share with you is through the website She Reads Truth. I have followed this site now through their last 4 studies, and they are great, small pieces. Day 1 of their Advent study, O Come Let Us Adore Him, started just today, so you are still in luck! If you want to download their app, it is available on both Apple and Android devices. I get it on my Galaxy, and have to pay $1.99 for it, which really isn't anything bad! Plus, they offer a daily scripture/quote that you can share on various social media platforms. The photography is always beautiful on these. If you're interested in this, I encourage you to read this invitation. |
| Graphic taken from www.shereadstruth.com |
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