Our Advent Adventure
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" Isiah 7:14
Merry Christmas, friends! Tis the season to rejoice in the Savior's birth. I don't know when you started preparing for Christmas, but I'm a staunch advocate of doing nothing involving Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. And, no, I don't mean after the lunch dishes are cleared away, it's game on for Christmas shopping or for decorating the tree. I mean nothing until the day after Thanksgiving at the earliest. I'm having a hard time with everyone trying to make the Christmas season begin sooner, and just yesterday I got my first email for after-Christmas sales.
This year, I tried hard to create (okay more like force) memories to cherish. Decorating the tree, decorating cookies, Christmas concerts, Christmas lights. One by one, I dreamt of Rockwell moments that would be forever etched in the hearts of my children and spouse for years to come. And, one by one, I was met by bad attitudes, grumpiness, or rushing from one place to the next. It just hasn't been my year, dear reader. Sure, I had good intentions, but they just haven't come to pass.
Except for one - the Advent calendar.
Personally, I didn't do an Advent calendar growing up. My church wasn't one to light the four candles, or really place much emphasis on the Advent season. Most calendars I had seen were about small presents or chocolate candies. In my own house, we've created paper chain Advent calendars, but to be honest, it was more the countdown to Santa calendar.
This year, Lifesong for Orphans offered FREE Advent calendars. Yes, friends, FREE! You could order as many as you wanted and they would mail them to your house. They came straight to my door in record time, and I proceeded to give all but one away before December 1st.
Each door on the calendar that we've opened has a task. For day one we were to count all the Bibles in our home and donate .40 for each. Then we were given one Christmas verse, such as Isaiah 11:1-2, and one verse that dealt more with what God says about the orphan or caring for the needy in our midst, such as Matthew 18:5. Then on the back of the calendar, there is a prayer request for each day that focuses on the many programs that Lifesong has in various countries around the world. Sometimes it's schools, sometimes it's orphanages or the workers,that the people in the area would come to care for the children in their midst, or that the gospel would go forth and lives would be changed.
As the days get closer to Christmas, we've counted coats and shoes, rooms in our house, whether we ate more than one meal, or if we have an education higher than the 4th grade. The message was clear, our home is overflowing with more than enough, even if we didn't have one present to unwrap under our tree.
The kids have taken turns reading the scriptures each evening, and during prayer time I've tried to really help them become specific about our petitions for each country and group that was listed.
One evening, we were praying for those who were teaching orphans life skills. I explained that while my children would grow up and one day move away from mom and dad, they would always have a home with us. When it was their birthday, I would always call them and celebrate their special day. And, even though they may one day get married and have families of their own, we would still enjoy Christmas and Thanksgiving together. But, for many orphans, this will not be part of their futures. They will age out of the care system, be turned out on their own and have to find a way to survive. No one will be there as a place to fall back on should life get hard. For our middle child, such a future was upsetting and he just wanted there to be a way to create homes for these young men and women who are just trying to make it. That would be nice, wouldn't it? He just wanted them to be taken care of, to know that someone will be there for them.
When I researched the word "advent," one article said it came from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming." The Advent season is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ. This year, we have spent our December evenings reading scriptures of Christ's birth foretold in the Old Testament, of Mary being visited by the angel, of shepherds in a field, of wise men coming to see the Christ child. And each evening, we have looked at all we have been given and read of how God has called us to give. So, if our family created no other lasting memory this Christmas other than that Advent calendar, that's okay. May it's impact grow ever deeper in our lives.
So come, O come, Emmanuel. You have ransomed the captives with Your sacrifice on the cross, and we rejoice in the day You were born, the day our only hope took it's first breath.
Yet, I am reminded, once this Christmas has come and gone, we will still remain in an advent season. For the time when Christ will return. When all things will be restored. When there will be no more sorrow, no more children without families, no more brokenness or pain. The world, once again, waits expectantly for His triumphant arrival.
"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20
Merry Christmas, friends! Tis the season to rejoice in the Savior's birth. I don't know when you started preparing for Christmas, but I'm a staunch advocate of doing nothing involving Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. And, no, I don't mean after the lunch dishes are cleared away, it's game on for Christmas shopping or for decorating the tree. I mean nothing until the day after Thanksgiving at the earliest. I'm having a hard time with everyone trying to make the Christmas season begin sooner, and just yesterday I got my first email for after-Christmas sales.
This year, I tried hard to create (okay more like force) memories to cherish. Decorating the tree, decorating cookies, Christmas concerts, Christmas lights. One by one, I dreamt of Rockwell moments that would be forever etched in the hearts of my children and spouse for years to come. And, one by one, I was met by bad attitudes, grumpiness, or rushing from one place to the next. It just hasn't been my year, dear reader. Sure, I had good intentions, but they just haven't come to pass.
Except for one - the Advent calendar.
Personally, I didn't do an Advent calendar growing up. My church wasn't one to light the four candles, or really place much emphasis on the Advent season. Most calendars I had seen were about small presents or chocolate candies. In my own house, we've created paper chain Advent calendars, but to be honest, it was more the countdown to Santa calendar.
This year, Lifesong for Orphans offered FREE Advent calendars. Yes, friends, FREE! You could order as many as you wanted and they would mail them to your house. They came straight to my door in record time, and I proceeded to give all but one away before December 1st.
As the days get closer to Christmas, we've counted coats and shoes, rooms in our house, whether we ate more than one meal, or if we have an education higher than the 4th grade. The message was clear, our home is overflowing with more than enough, even if we didn't have one present to unwrap under our tree.
The kids have taken turns reading the scriptures each evening, and during prayer time I've tried to really help them become specific about our petitions for each country and group that was listed.
One evening, we were praying for those who were teaching orphans life skills. I explained that while my children would grow up and one day move away from mom and dad, they would always have a home with us. When it was their birthday, I would always call them and celebrate their special day. And, even though they may one day get married and have families of their own, we would still enjoy Christmas and Thanksgiving together. But, for many orphans, this will not be part of their futures. They will age out of the care system, be turned out on their own and have to find a way to survive. No one will be there as a place to fall back on should life get hard. For our middle child, such a future was upsetting and he just wanted there to be a way to create homes for these young men and women who are just trying to make it. That would be nice, wouldn't it? He just wanted them to be taken care of, to know that someone will be there for them.
When I researched the word "advent," one article said it came from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming." The Advent season is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ. This year, we have spent our December evenings reading scriptures of Christ's birth foretold in the Old Testament, of Mary being visited by the angel, of shepherds in a field, of wise men coming to see the Christ child. And each evening, we have looked at all we have been given and read of how God has called us to give. So, if our family created no other lasting memory this Christmas other than that Advent calendar, that's okay. May it's impact grow ever deeper in our lives.
So come, O come, Emmanuel. You have ransomed the captives with Your sacrifice on the cross, and we rejoice in the day You were born, the day our only hope took it's first breath.
Yet, I am reminded, once this Christmas has come and gone, we will still remain in an advent season. For the time when Christ will return. When all things will be restored. When there will be no more sorrow, no more children without families, no more brokenness or pain. The world, once again, waits expectantly for His triumphant arrival.
"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20
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