It’s Advent. I grew up Southern Baptist, so until I married a Lutheran boy, that really meant nothing to me. As for as I knew, an Advent calendar had 25 little doors to open as you counted down the days until Christmas.
Now, we’re both Southern Baptist. But Advent is a part of the traditional Church calendar and I’ve realized that it has a pretty significant meaning, well beyond 25 little pieces of chocolate or silly prizes. To me, it’s 4 weeks of preparing for Christ’s Birth, Christmas.
The perfect-Mom-wannabe inside me struggles with how to “do” advent. Should it be solemn and serious? Can we still include little prizes or candy? How do I help my kids focus on Christ’s Birth in this busy, gimme-driven time of year.
Here’s what I’ve decided: We are going to have fun! It’s Jesus’s Birthday! We are going to prepare just like we would for any birthday—with sharing and baking and shopping and giving and celebrating. We will fill our home with Christmas carols and praise music. We will read the promises and prophecies and Christmas story. We will be joyful because not only did God come to us, but He came to save us! This TobyMac song captures exactly what I want Christmas at our house to be.