It’s our second year in our Advent family tradition! This time we have an actual wreath and proper candles.
If you want to introduce the same to your family and teach excitement about Jesus, here are a few things we’d like to share:
HOW WE DO IT
1. We light one candle every Sunday.
2. Sing a worship song.
3. Read one story about the coming of Jesus.
4. Close with prayer
TIPS
Keep it simple. Of course, everyone has complete control over the creative direction of their wreaths, but don’t be pressured if you don’t have one. Mark DIYed ours last year, and it didn’t dampen the excitement. The most important part is our anticipation for Christ.
Keep it kid-friendly. We made it child-friendly by picking a song our son likes and using his Jesus Story Book Bible. It’s an excellent children’s Bible that talks about how all of the Bible stories point to Jesus and is faithful to the scripture. (It always tears me up every time we read it)
Keep it short. If you’ve been a parent for some time, you’ll know you can’t keep a child sitting still for more than a few minutes. It’s best to work with their attention span. The point is that we want them to like the tradition.
Prepare your hearts too. To borrow from @desiringgod : “Build God-centered anticipation and expectancy and excitement into your home — especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible to the children.”
LINKS
Mark x Abi 