Advent

It sure feels good to be my holiday loving self again this year!

We decorated yesterday - put up the tree and some decorations.  Got ready for some Christmas traditions.

Advent is part of our tradition.  But it hasn't been a big part.  I remember my mom and dad had an Advent wreath on our dinner table and we would do our own Advent devotional.  In our home, we have an Advent calendar that simply marks down the days until Christmas.

Each week of Advent focuses on an aspect of preparation for the coming of Christ.

Hope - the prophecy

Love - the manger

Joy - the shepherds (the pink candle)

Peace - the angels

And finally, in the center of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace is the Christ candle.

We haven't done much with Advent in our family.

Until this year.

I saw this fantastic idea on 100 Days of Real Food.  And I decided to change it up a little to go with the themes of each week of Advent.

Dec 1 - 6
Each day in the calendar will have an activity or act of kindness that focuses on Hope.

Dec 7 - 12
Each day in the calendar will have an activity or act of kindness that focuses on Love.

Dec 13 - 18
Each day in the calendar will have an activity or act of kindness that focuses on Joy.

Dec 19 - 24
Each day in the calendar will have an activity or act of kindness that focuses on Peace.

Dec 25
The activity will be focused on Christ.

I'm sure this isn't some new idea.  I'm sure there are resources out there that already have this sort of plan put together.

But I want this to be specific to my kids, to my family.

I'll be sharing each day's advent calendar entry on my Facebook page so feel free to join in!