slow down and be part of the love story {advent ideas}

I love getting ideas from others.  I love hearing traditions and ways that other families are keeping their hearts and minds focused on Christ during this season and not all the other stuff.  And I mostly love that God has ways of speaking to me, and chooses to speak to me, to teach me during this season about how he desires our house and our hearts to be.  It's definitely hard in the culture we live in. I'm learning a little more and more each year about the balance and focus of this season.  And I've definitely learned some through mistakes. There are some things we did with our first child that we want to/or have changed now, and there are things that we didn't do, that we want to do now.  But I think that's okay.  We don't have to have it perfect from the start, nor will we ever have it perfect.  But it's a work in progress.  A work of focusing our hearts and minds on the birthday of the King, and giving to Him.  And creating a legacy in our children's hearts that will point them to Jesus.

 

 

My original post idea was just to share our Advent Calendar with you.  But not because it's some crazy cute idea.  It's not in the least.  I'm sure you've seen many many like it.  But as I started getting this post ready, the Lord started to change my focus. They are things I have been learning and implementing as the Lord works in my heart this season, and I want to share them in case it can be encouraging to you.

 

 

This is our first year to do any type of Advent calendar. The other years we did small things at home, but didn't keep up anything consistent as we counted down the days till Christmas.  This year during my craft weekend, I planned out our advent calendar of activities.  It's helped us all focus on the fun of doing things rather than getting things. It's also helped me pace myself.  My natural tendency is to put things off and keep saying "oh it would be so fun to do that", and then I send myself and my family into overload by going crazy and trying to jam a whole bunch of fun into the last few days or week before Christmas.  But I've learned that Advent isn't about doing.  It's about waiting.  The true Christmas miracle comes when we wait for the baby, we seek the small, and look for every little detail of the presence of God.  If we don't slow down, we miss it completely.  So our Advent calendar this year is about slowing down.

 

See, the way I've done Christmas in the past looks more like a triumphant parade, that comes quick and is over fast.  It's packed full of as much fun, noise, chaos and cheers from the crowds (the kids) as possible, with last minute planning in order to pull off the most spectacular and memorable Christmas ever. They've been full of lofty expectations that only lead to disappointment. And can you believe that all of that great stuff has also been accompanied with yelling and anger, and frustration and tears, bad attitudes, and feelings of inadequacy.

 

But the Lord reminded me this week that Jesus didn't come with a blast of excitement (yet!) in a triumphant-parade-kind-of-way.

 Christmas is profoundly simple.  A baby born amongst the animals, wrapped in cloth, in a cold, dark, barn. But yet I can make it profoundly crazy, stressful and parade into the actual day with as much hype, high expectations, presents and cute gift wrapping as possible (okay, maybe not the gift wrapping, since I could kind of care less how my presents look. Ha! My husband is the one who wraps and then uses a black sharpie marker to write TO: and FROM: and I'm okay with it).  I have to remind myself that Jesus didn't come wrapped in silver lining with a great parade to welcome the King.  He came in the darkest hours of the day.  He came in a mess of blood and pain, and he left the same way.  The Gospel isn't a pretty picture, but it's simple and it's full of love. In fact it's the greatest love story ever told.  But what is beautiful is that the same way he came into the dark of that night, he also comes into our lives.  He meets us in the darkness, right in the middle of the blood, pain and mess. 

 

Advent is waiting and believing in Isaiah 11:1-2

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit." 

(Do you do the Jesse Tree?  We haven't yet, but I'm thinking maybe in the  next year or so we will! The link will take you to a free family advent devotional with Jesse Tree ornaments.)

 

How can I slow down and be a part of His love story this Christmas? 
Oh, how I have missed this focus so much in the past. I have been too busy, crammed too much of the wrong things in, done things for the wrong reason. This love story began with a Christmas Baby who came silently and privately.  So privately that God made sure to put his parents in a stable with animals instead of an inn crowded with people.  This love story is displayed in marvelous and miraculous ways in my life, but also in very small ways as well.  But it takes me slowing down to notice them.

 

 

1. Our Advent calendar is a way for us to slow down.  It's not a race to fit things into the last week or so before Christmas.  It's not about trying to plan extravagant crafts and activities each day.  It keeps us focused. It's about seeing the small and loving the least.  Because that's how we can give to Him on his birthday.  Our lives can be the gift we give to him.  When we give to others, we give to Him.  When we serve others, we serve Him. When we love others, we love Him. To be a part of the love story, we can't let our minds and conversations focus on the "getting". And to be honest, I fall guilty of this in many ways. I like Christmas presents possibly as much as my kiddos. But it's the birthday of our Savior. Everyone else's birthdays we focus on the gift, why does that seem so hard for Christ's birthday? 

 

 

So our advent activities are a mix of fun things to do as as family, and ways to give to others. Every "fun" activity is simple.  So simple that sometimes it is already part of our day anyway.  This helps to keep expectations low and not to feel the pressure of having to keep up with something.

 

 But the "fun" activities are also a way for us to give our time to our family through Christmas-book-reading-and-marshmallow-snowball-fighting. The Lord brings joy into our home through these fun things, and memories are made at the same time. 

And for our "giving" tasks, we have a bag of candy canes and sweet notes packed and ready take with us anywhere, the kids have even added some of their own money to drop in the Salvation Army buckets.  We can give food and gifts to others.  We can give monetary gifts to those in need.  We can give notes and hand drawn cards.  We can give our appreciation.  We can give our time to the Lord in being in his Word.   By giving, by letting Christ's light shine through us, by loving, is how we can give to Him on his birthday, and be a part of the greatest love story ever told.

 

 

This year we've done, or are planning to do a few more things to help focus our hearts on giving to Christ on his birthday...

 

2. We can give to the Lord by thanking him for all the things he's given us.  This has already been a good reminder of taking our thankful November hearts further than just Thanksgiving.  My sister-in-law gave us a good idea in November to take the kids through each room of the house and have everyone say out loud everything in that room they are thankful for.  I brought this idea into Christmas by simply starting a list of "We've Already Been Given...".  It's posted and ready to begin listing out anything and everything we can think of.  I'm guessing our poster isn't big enough.

 

3. We can give to the Lord by giving him our hearts and time as we read daily scripture together as a family.  We are following this Advent scripture schedule.

 

 

 

4. We can make a "Giving" list, instead of a "Getting" List.  I saw this on Pinterest, it was something I just clicked on and read but didn't pin and now can't find it.  But the idea was quite simple.  And I kept it simple...poster board that's been in my office for years, with some Christmas ribbon stapled to it. Just make a list of all the things and ways you can GIVE this Christmas.  Help the kids think of ways they can use their talents, saved money, crafts, time, and love for others.  And write it down in a list.  Cross them off as you do them.
 

 

5. We can give to Him by giving to the least of them.  Have you ever shopped in the Compassion International, or World Vision Gift Catalog?  I'm embarrassed to say how much time I've spent perusing all the deals online (because that's where I do 99.9% of my shopping), trying to figure out how I can spend our money the most wisely for things we don't even need.  We don't even know what it's like to really and truly need. There are quite a few organizations and ministries who put out catalogs like these, and the ones I've seen have all been free.  Just go to the websites and request a catalog.  Have fun shopping for goats, wells, ducks, chickens and medicine.  And remember that while these gifts are for people you will never meet, they are gifts to our King.  

***This post isn't to show off what we are doing.  Most of this is new to us as well.  It's about the work God is doing in my heart as not only His child, but also the mother to my own children. It's about finding ways (even if we need to be inspired by others) to focus on what's most important at Christmas time.  If this can help bring some focus into anyone else's home like it has ours,  then that is what this post is for.  But there are so many different ways to focus your hearts and minds, and things that need to be age appropriate, these are just a mere few ideas.
My biggest advice from lessons I've learned myself, is to keep things simple and don't go overboard. Remember, we have to slow down.  It's a season of anticipation for what's coming. Not a season of busyness of what we can fit in.  Plan things in a way that when life gives you a screaming baby all day, or sickness, or just bad moods, activities can be adjusted.  When focus is on others, and giving, there is not so much pressure at home to make things so perfect.

My sweet friend Jess wrote a great post about preparing room in your hearts and home for Jesus. You should go read it. It will give you even more ideas.
 

If you haven't accepted the gift that Jesus is to you, I hope you'll receive HIM this Christmas season.  The best gift ever.

And once the gift is yours, slow down and savor this season of celebration, and be a part of God's love story.

Find ways to give to the Birthday Child.