Advent Guide

Hey, hey! Advent starts on Sunday and it is truly one of my most favorite times of the year. As easy as it is for December to be one of the busier months in our culture, our family has really tried to slow it down these past few years and I have grown to love the simplicity, slow pace, and togetherness that our holiday season brings. Between having both boys birthdays + Christmas in December, our wallets and time just won't allow for much else so we try to hunker down and enjoy a lot of sweet time at home together and I so hope it is something we can continue to do for years to come. One of the ways we have worked to achieve this is by creating an Advent guide for our family to do together at home. It is becoming a sweet tradition and something we look forward to and it gives our holiday meaning and purpose and intentionality in a season where we might otherwise feel pressure to attend all the things and make all the purchases. And so, I wanted to share this year's guide with you in case you were looking for a simple guide to walk your family through this Advent season as well.

This was obviously written with our boys in mind so there is so much freedom for you to take it and adjust it for your family. My biggest hope (aside from learning about the names of Jesus, who is He, why He came, and why He is coming again!) is that it will free you from the pressure of making Advent activities or buying craft supplies or spending a lot of money. Nearly every one of these activities is free and can be done in a few minutes at home. With the exception of a few additional outings, it really can be done with zero prep at all! You can switch days around or skip them altogether and pick back up without interfering with it's original intent.

What's mine is yours so I'd love for you to have it! Please let me know if you use it, how it goes, and what changes or modifications you make for your family. I'd love to hear all about it!

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Sunday, December 3 | Exact Representation | Read Hebrews 1:1-3. Talk about how God the Father is a spirit; we can not see Him but we can look to Jesus to know what He is like. Jesus is all of God poured into flesh. He is the exact and perfect representation of who God is. Explain what Advent is and how we will spend the next few weeks talking about the different names of Jesus so that we can better know who He is, why He came, and why He will come again.

Monday, December 4 | Carpenter | Read Mark 6:1-6. Give Jones some toy tools and let Moses hammer some nails into a block of wood. Talk about how Jesus was fully God, but also fully man. He was a man just like daddy. He had a job and his job was a carpenter. He built and fixed things. Talk about how it was hard for Jesus’ family and friends to recognize Him as God because they only thought of Him as an ordinary man with an ordinary job.

Tuesday, December 5 | Almighty God | God is Almighty- nothing is too hard for Him. Have DJ and the boys do a couple of strength games: arm wrestling, wrestling match, lifting contest, etc. Talk about how strong DJ is compared to them and then talk about how much stronger God is. He is the strongest one. Nothing is too hard for Him. Read Isaiah 59:1 (NLT) and talk about how the Lord is strong enough to save us.

Wednesday, December 6 | Indescribable Gift | Talk about all the presents Moses got for his birthday today. Have him describe his presents; what they are like and what he enjoys about them. Then read 2 Corinthians 9:15 and talk about how Jesus is the very best gift. He is so good that there are not enough words to fully describe Him!

Thursday, December 7 | Immanuel | Read Matthew 1:23. Talk about the significance of names. Donald means “World Ruler”. Courtney means “Short Nose”. Moses means “Drawn Out”. Jones means “God is Gracious.” Talk about why we chose such significant names for our boys and then talk about how Immanuel is a name that was used to describe Jesus. It means “God with us”. Talk about how Jesus came to live with and among people and how He is always with us and has promised to never leave us.

Friday, December 8 | Baby | Talk about babies…What are babies like? What do we think our new baby will be like when he comes? Talk about how amazing it was that God came to earth as a baby; that the Savior of the whole world left His glorious throne in Heaven to be born into a broken world among animals in a barn. Then read Luke 2:8-14 and go see the movie The Star as a family.

Saturday, December 9 | From Bethlehem | Go to Bethlehem Revisited in Waxahachie. On the way there, read John 7:42. Talk about how Jesus was born in Bethlehem and how we are going to see what it must have looked like when and where he was born. On the way home, talk about the things you saw, heard, and smelled. Talk about how humble Jesus was to leave the glories of Heaven to be born in such lowly circumstances.

Sunday, December 10 | Nazarene | Read Matthew 2:23. Look at the map and talk about where we are from. Just like Moses is Korean because he is from Korea, Jesus is called a Nazarene because he was from Nazareth. Point out Nazareth on the map and talk about what it is like there. Look at pictures online and eat pita bread and hummus as a snack.

Monday, December 11 | Consuming Fire | Turn on the fireplace and read Hebrews 12:29. Talk about times God appeared as a fire in scripture (Moses & the burning bush, leading the Israelites by a pillar of fire, etc). Watch The Fire on Owlegories.

Tuesday, December 12 | Healer | Read Matthew 8:14-17. Talk about how Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Talk about how Jesus has healed Moses’ itchy skin. Talk about how just like our physical bodies get sick and hurt and need to be healed, so too are our hearts sick with sin. Talk about how Jesus is the only one who can heal our sinful hearts.

Wednesday, December 13 | Deliverer | Read Galatians 1:3-5. Deliverer means one that saves from danger or destruction. Firemen deliver people from fires. Policemen deliver people from bad guys. Doctors deliver people from sickness. Talk about how we are all in danger of death and eternal separation from God, but that Jesus died to deliver us!

Thursday, December 14 | Living Water | Have a club soda date and watch Episode 3: The Water on Owlegories. Read John 4:7-14. Talk about how just like we cannot live without water and how it satisfies our thirst, so too can we not live without Jesus. He completely satisfies all our desires and needs!

Friday, December 15 | Light of the World | Go look at Christmas lights. Discuss John 8:12. Talk about light- how it lights up the darkness and helps us to see. Jesus is the light. He lights up the darkness of our sinful, broken world and helps us to see the Truth.

Saturday, December 16 | Creator | Go to the Sky Theatre at UNT and watch Seasons Reasons ($3 per person). Afterwards, talk about the weather, clouds, seasons, stars, and moon. Read Colossians 1:16-17 and talk about how God is the creator of all things. (Another option is to go to Zoo Lights and talk about how God created all the animals.)

Sunday, December 17 | Give the boys rocks and sensory sand to play with as we talk. Discuss the differences between a big rock and sand. Then read The Wise and Foolish Builders on page 191 in The Gospel Story Bible. Jesus is our support, our foundation and our refuge; talk about how we can build our lives on Him.

Monday, December 18 | Bread of Life | Bring home hot chocolate and pumpkin bread from Starbucks and watch The Bread on Owlegories together as a family. Read John 6:35. Just like our physical bodies need bread (food) to live and be healthy and strong, so too do our spiritual hearts need Jesus to live.  We eat food every day to survive; we should spend time with Jesus each day too! Talk about different ways that we can spend time with Jesus throughout the day.

Tuesday, December 19 | Man of Sorrows | Read Isaiah 53:3. Talk about what it means that Jesus was a man of sorrows and why he was well acquainted with sadness and grief. He knows what it means when we feel disappointed and sad. He understands when we feel that way and He can comfort us in our sorrow.

Wednesday, December 20 | Advocate | An advocate is someone who pleads on behalf of another. Show Moses pictures of when we went to court. He did not have to appear before a judge to ask for a family, because we did it for him! We went to the judge and advocated on his behalf; we fought to bring him into our family! Satan accuses us of our sin, but we do not have to appear before God because Jesus has already gone before us. Jesus advocated to the Father on our behalf and fought to bring us into His family.

Thursday, December 21 | Servant | Read Philippians 2:7. Talk about what a servant is. Talk about how Jesus was both a servant and a King. Read The Servant and The King on page 286 in The Jesus Storybook Bible and then discuss ways that we can serve like Jesus.

Friday, December 22 |  King of Kings | Talk about how a King is someone who is in charge of a whole country. Use the examples of Daddy being in charge of our family; a teacher being in charge of a class, and the President being in charge of our country. Some countries do not have Presidents, but kings who rule all the people who live there. Jesus is the King of Kings! He is in charge of every other king and of the whole world. He deserves our honor, respect, love, trust, and obedience. Read The King of all Kings on page 192 in the Jesus Storybook Bible and act it out with the Little People Nativity Scene.

Saturday, December 23 | Intercessor | Talk about prayer; what it is, the people and things we pray for, and why we pray. Read Romans 8:34 and talk about how Jesus prays for us too!

Sunday, December 24 | Friend | Talk about friendship. Who are our best friends? Why do we like them? How do we spend time with them? The Bible says that God is our friend too. Read Exodus 33:11 and talk about how we can be friends with God. He wants to walk with us and talk with us and spend time with us. Read Friend of Sinners in Thoughts To Make Your Heart sing and/or John 15:13 to see the different ways that Jesus modeled friendship for us.

Monday, December 25 | JESUS’ BIRTHDAY!

Happy Adventing,
courtney