I'm not sure what is harder to believe, that it is already December or that I am writing a blog post! It has been quite a while since I posted here and our lives look extremely different since the last time I wrote! Something that hasn't changed though, is the meaning of Christmas and the joy that celebrating Jesus' birth brings to our family regardless of what city we live in.
The last couple of years we have taken the month of December to work through an Advent devotional. At such a busy time of year, it is easy to get caught up in parties and celebrating and lose focus of the very reason we celebrate Christmas. The word Advent can be a little confusing to some people, however it simply means "coming". Celebrating advent for us, is a way to help our family come together and prepare our hearts to celebrate the fact that Jesus came to earth, and the gift of grace we have been given because of that event. The reason to celebrate advent is to hear the story of Jesus again and help prepare our lives and hearts for Jesus' coming! It is a way to be purposeful with impressing God's Word in each of our hearts. What an opportunity to be intentional about learning ourselves and teaching our kids about Jesus' life story and where it began.
A daily advent celebration brings the whole family together(which can be a challenge these days) and gives us all a common ground. It gives the weeks leading up to Christmas consistency and rhythm to our days that lets face it, are filled with shopping, school parties(not to mention a bundle of other parties to give and attend), traveling and the list could go on.
This year we are going to be more active in our attempt to focus on the coming Savoir. What we want most for our kids(and I'm sure you do too) is for each of them to understand that the real meaning of Christmas is much more than presents under the tree. It is Jesus and the relationship of love, grace and salvation that is His gift to us. We are going to try our best to be purposeful about focusing on Christ by creating tangible ways this season in which we can worship through advent and I challenge you to do the same!
Be Blessed~
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