Counting the Days, Lighting the Candles By Elyse M. Fitzpatrick & Jessica L. Thompson With Jami Nato TABLE OF CONTENTS December 1 12 December 2 16 December 3 20 December 4 24 December 5 29 December 6 33 December 7 37 Activity 1 41 December 8 44 December 9 48 December 10 52 December 11 56 December 12 60 December 13 64 December 14 68 Activity 2 71 December 15 77 December 16 83 December 17 87 December 18 92 December 19 97 December 20 102 102 December 21 106 Activity 3 110 December 22 115 December 23 119 Activity 4 124 December 24 127 December 25 132 Counting the Days, Lighting the Candles An Advent Devotional We love the Christmas season…mostly. We say “mostly” because, like you, we get caught up in trying to make it special, forgetting what makes it special: the birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ; hence, the reason for this little advent devotional. A Few Words Before We Begin You can choose to use this devotional any way you like. Let it serve you and your family; please don’t serve it. We don’t want you to end up resenting it or feeling enslaved to it or guilty if you don’t get it done. There won’t be any rules here, just suggestions about how to utilize this celebration in your family’s life. We can just see it now: a mom, in the middle of reading the devotional, yells at her children, “Stop talking!! I’m trying to read to you about Jesus! Don’t you know that Jesus is the reason for the season?! Stop asking about presents! If you don’t sit still you won’t get any! And, Johnnie, put the lighter down and stop trying to light your sister’s hair on fire!” Above all, please don’t make this a way to earn righteousness or “make a tradition” that will somehow save your children when they, like you, are “prone to wander.” Traditions don’t save us, the Christ-child does. We have also linked to a product on Amazon that you may or may not like. Use it, don’t use it, make it your own, use the traditional colors of the candles (purple, pink, white), or not. Or don’t use candles at all. Or dig through a drawer until you find leftover sparkly birthday candles and stick them in pancakes. Some women like to be domestic goddesses. That’s great. (It’s not where our gifts lie and we’re trying not to be jealous of you.) We’ve also included a series of suggested activities for those of you who would enjoy this with your children. These projects weren’t created by us! (Giant surprise, we know!) They were created by our friend, Jami Nato, the Craftelangelo of the Tactile-Sensory-How- Did-She-Think-Of-That World. If you decide to do them, may you be blessed with children who won’t 1) eat paste instead of their pancakes, 2) glue their eyelids shut, 3) color on the Christmas Hymnal that has somehow survived all 52 other children in your lineage and is now being destroyed by your family (Sorry about that, great-great grandma!), and 4) play barbershop while you’re looking for matches. The point of all this: to enjoy this event, to enjoy your children. The child Jesus didn’t color in the lines perfectly either. Enjoy Him. He’s here for you. The Tradition Traditionally, Advent Calendars have five candles on an evergreen wreath (three purple, one pink, and one white candle.) The first candle is the Prophecy Candle. This candle represents hope or expectation in anticipation of the coming Messiah. The second candle, purple, is the Bethlehem Candle. This candle represents love and Christ’s birth. The third candle, pink, is the Shepherd’s Candle, representing joy. The fourth candle, purple, is the Angel’s Candle. This candle represents peace. Finally, on Christmas Eve, the white candle--the Christ candle--is lit. It represents the light of the life of Christ that has come into the world. The white represents Christ’s purity, for although He was tempted in all ways as we are, He is the only one without sin. Christ is the sinless Savior, and, because of His unparalleled love and life, those who trust Him by faith are forgiven for their sins and are made whiter than snow. The Evergreen Wreath representing eternal life. Like we said before, use this devotional in any way you like, and don’t worry if you don’t get this done every day or in the right order. We tell you not to worry because you’re not the one bringing Christ to your children. The Holy Spirit does that. Of course, He may use you as means to accomplish His work… or He may not. You can pray and then trust that He will use this season and your entire life in just the way He chooses. You may want to do this devotional every day beginning on December 1, or you may just have time to do it every Sunday in December…or Tuesdays if that works better. If your children are able to listen, you might want to read the entire passage for each day aloud. Or you can just read it to yourself. The point is for you to relax, rest, and most of all, rejoice. We’ve included readings for parents and readings for children. Some of your older children may want to hear both readings, while your toddlers will probably just enjoy the fact that mama is lighting a candle. A word from Jami For these activities during advent, we suggest that you pick one night of the week without a lot of events. For instance, in our family, Tuesday nights are soccer practice nights, my husband often works nights, I’m rushed to get dinner to the table and often end up with flames coming out of my eyes by 6pm. Thus, advent activities shall not happen on Tuesdays. Acknowledge your limitations and plan accordingly. Our second suggestion is: Plan ahead just a bit. Try to pick the same night every week, then as silly as it sounds, write it on your calendar. That morning, gather your supplies. For me, when I read, “that morning,” it usually means, “20 minutes before the activity.” And that’s ok, too. See above where I discuss acknowledging limitations. You will notice that there are no advent activities the last week of this devotional. This is intentional, as it will likely already be filled with many activities and events. Please enjoy the time together with your family! The third suggestion: Limit distractions. Put those smart phones in the fireplace and watch them turn into colorful sparks as you tell stories around the fire. Ok, maybe just stick them in the other room? Putting the distractions away says that this time together is important. It is difficult to focus during the holidays anyway, so keeping some time set apart for focused interaction with God’s word and each other is needed