The Reason for Christmas Advent Guide

I

My husband and I  wanted to share  what our family does for Advent.  Its a work in process.  I happened on the basic outline of this 3 years ago as I began to seek out a way to give our Christmas season some focus.  Over the last couple seasons we have tweaked it and changed and added to it to make it our own. It has really become one of the girls favorite traditions. 

The focus on this Advent Guide is what and why is Advent proceeds to focus most every day on why we have Christmas, what truly is the reason for this season.  Each day has a theme, a scripture and a heart reminder.  The themes are on why we have Advent, and spend the majority of the days looking at one of the reasons Jesus came along with scriptures to back them up. 

Along with the theme each day has a 'heart reminder'.  The heart reminders are visuals to remind us what we have talked about.  I collected clip art and printed them out.  I stuck magnets on the back and hung them on the magnetic tree we use.  Their are many different ways you could do this.   My friend spent one season having her children make an ornament to represent each day and now uses those ornaments each year to hang on their advent tree.  I've seen felt trees you could velcro them on or you could hang them in a window.  There are many ways you could do this to fit your family. 

I wanted to add some family fun to the busy season so I came up with activities for each theme.  From things as simple as singing a song to more involved like following a treasure map or going on the 'minivan express' to look at christmas lights.  I tried to think of more than one activity with varying levels of involvement.  Honestly there are days that we have time to get messy and there are some days and nights that singing a song is pushing it. For me it was good to sit down and look at our month and as best I could kind of plan out what we were going to do when.  The first 3 and last 3 devotions aren't are really good bookends for the study but the middle 19 can be switched around.  So if there is an activity you like save that one for the day you have time for it, etc.

I love seeing all the different things people do for Advent.  I'd love to know what your family does.

The Reason for Christmas

Heart Reminders-(the 'ornaments' we use. use a family picture for that day)

Activity Guide -(the list of acitivy ideas I've come up with. Add your own)

Advent Planning-(maybe a helpful planning sheet for your own)

Suggested Advent Planning-(this is just an example of what my family hopes to do. Flexibiltiy is key)

And here is a Pinterest Board I created for easy access to activity ideas:)

Merry Christmas!

Dear Reader

Its been several months since I've written, and so for the few that have commented or questioned I thought I'd report.  My computer was sick this summer, it was repaired for a couple weeks in which I spent catching up and preparing for our schoolyear.  And then the first week of school just as I was hoping to settle back into writing, it died. Dead, not to be revived, dead.   I am so thankful they were able to pull the hard drive off, however it has been sad to bid farewell to my computer where I spent many hours creating, writing, reading, listening to Pandora and yes shopping..:)

So unfortuantely this blog will have to take a back seat until we are able to purchase a new computer.  I thank you for reading, thank your for your encouraging words.  Its been quite a summer, and the Lord is doing much though I'm still not sure what some of it is, He does.  I hope to be able to write and share again.  Until then.....

Dear Rachel and Anna

I have the tremendous privelege of being a Discipleship Group leader for our High School Seniors. Though I have no great wisdom  to offer and am far from 'cool',  the Lord in his grace and mercy has given the opportunity to walk beside some amazing young women who call him Father. I have been apart of this ministry for almost 7 years  and it has truly been one of my favorite things. Each group has been different, and each  holds a special place in my heart. 
Today I was humbled and honored with being asked to speak at one of my girls' High School Graduation Celebration today.  Anytime I am asked to do something like this I tremble in fear, but ultimately am thankful for the opportunity to be forced to reflect on all that God is doing. Here are the words I spoke today, I edited slightly because though I spoke them to one, its my heart for both.

My dear girls, 

It has been a true joy to be your D Group leader the last 2 years.  It has been such a blessing to gather together with you every Sunday night.  We have eaten-and eaten-and then eaten some more, laughed and learned, done nothing at all yet done something extraordinary. For while we did “nothing," we have shared life, shared our hearts-the ups and downs, asked questions, learned the answers.  Over the last 2 years we have all changed, and been there so pray and encourage one another through.  Being your D group leader has truly been a joy, and I thank you for the privilege.

BUT while being a D group leader is a joy, it also is bittersweet.  For this time always comes.  Time to say goodbye.  Time to encourage you to go forth and spread those wings that God has given you. When your mom asked me to say something I said yes, but that familiar fear came back.  What do I say??  Who am I to get up and say anything, at least anything worthwhile?  And as the days went on, I’ve struggled to write something because  life has been crazy.  There have been sick kids, untimely funerals, to do lists that seem endless.  Life has been messy and busy. And I find myself longing for a future day. That day when my husband is done with seminary. Or when the kids do their own laundry, or when time with a friend seems possible.  And there have been those days when I have looked back and missed what was, when the baby couldn’t reach the toilet much less drink out of it, the days where my husband only had 1 job, or when my hair didn’t have a touch of gray.  There are even moments I miss before kids when I’d take a nap after work and go to midnight movies on a whim. Sometimes its hard to just enjoy this present moment.

God has perfect timing and I think God has a sense of humor. For everything that he is teaching me, I think applies to you and where you stand. 

My beautiful girls, you have accomplished much, you have enjoyed life, and God has great things in store for each of you. I know the dreams you have in your hearts-dreams that I can’t wait to see come true.   You have made some incredible memories in travels, through relationships, and just doing life.  As you embark on this next journey moving closer to your dreams,  you will look back on these days with fondness,  there will probably be a few days you miss living at home, miss the carefreeness of not thinking through bills and budgets.  There will be days you miss the familiar –even the parts of the familiar that drive you crazy now.  And there will also be days where you long so much for the future, it hurts.  Days that you long for that one certain thing that you think will make life better, and on those days as you look to the future it will be easy to fall into impatience and frustration.

The truth that we need to hear, myself included,  is while God is in the past holding us steady and while we can certainly trust him with the future,  He’s here in the present too.  He has used our past for His glory and to bring us to this moment.  The future is something to look forward too but this present day is what He is using to bring us to that future.  Psalm 118 says “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”  Notice;  It doesn’t say This is the day that the Lord has made just  endure it until you get to tomorrow.  And it doesn’t say  “This is the day that the Lord has made,  but only rejoice in the memories of yesterday” IT says THIS is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in IT”  This day, sandwiched between yesterday and tomorrow is what we need to rejoice in.  This day is not an accident, it's not just a bridge, it’s a day created by your Heavenly Father.  Rejoice that he has given it to you.  Live joyfully for him today- when it's good, when it's frustrating, when it just seems mundane. Without today you can’t see yesterday clearly, and without today there is no tomorrow. So Give thanks for yesterday and how God  has been at work, prayerfully seek Him about tomorrow, but rejoice in today and all that He has given you.  

So as you celebrate graduation, remember this day is the day that the Lord has made….

When you are bored and counting down to college,

When you are meeting new friends, experiencing new places,

When you miss me and my awesome dessert making,

When you are longing for Mr. Right remember this is the day the Lord has made.

When you are homesick for the comfort of your childhood,

When you are in the middle of finals,

When you are watching Tangled or Once Upon a Time or some other cheesy masterpiece

When there is more to do then you have time for remember this is the day the Lord has made…

When the kids don’t stop whining or making a mess (oh wait thats for me :) )

When you are lonely

When you are waiting on a degree or a job or a promotion

When you read this…. Remember

THIS is the day that Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

Psalm 118

I love you girls, and I rejoice in each day that the Lord has given me to walk beside you, to pray for you and to love you.  I rejoice in this day (well, I am trying to)  when I have to say goodbye and watch you walk towards your dreams.   Thank you for the privilege of being a part of your life.  And remember I’m just a text, email, fb, phone call, or drive away... I'll have dessert waiting :)

In Him,

Shannon

What if....

To be honest, I am struggling to put what is in my heart into words today.  Yet I feel I must.  My heart is full and overflowing, but I don’t know how to convey it.  I don’t know how to describe in words the beauty of this day.  I could write how it was a picture-perfect spring day with a sky so blue you wanted to dive in, the trees and grass so green you could feel the hope of new life.  I could tell you how the warm, golden sun shining down was perfectly balanced with the cool wind that would dance through the sounds of laughter and pleasant conversations.  Yes, I could tell you all of that and, while it would be true, it wouldn’t really scratch the surface of the true beauty that I witnessed today. 

So let me show you this picture.  

This picture, drawn by my 3 year old, is what today was truly about. It is a picture that she drew completely on her own, and proudly brought to show me.  She then carefully folded it and placed it in an envelope.  It was meant to be a birthday card for her friend.  But it’s more.  It’s a picture of the Smith family, a family we have known and loved for some time now.  There are six people in the picture.  There is a Mommy, a Daddy, three sisters and a brother.  My daughter looks at that picture and sees the Smith family exactly as she knows them.  I look at this picture and smile because, while this is how we know and love the Smith family now, it is not how it was a year ago. 

One year ago this family of six was a family of four – a family who by all worldly standards was complete. But worldly standards were not their measuring stick. Over some amount of time, in different ways, the Lord had been working in their hearts. He was bringing them to a place where they surrendered to him and trusted him, though they weren’t sure exactly what or when he would ask. Last summer, he asked.  And they answered by opening the doors of their home and their hearts by welcoming in a son and a daughter who were not their own. A son and a daughter who had done nothing to earn or deserve this new family were ushered into a home that they desperately needed, though they didn’t even know it.  These children were immediately given all the rights and privileges of family members.  It took some sacrifices of comfort, space, ease of life, and more.  Yet without hesitation, they were loved, clothed, and fed. They were given a room, furniture, a place at the family table.  To them was given the right to call the Smiths “Mom” and “Dad”, and the older girls were now both big “sisters”.  

This. Is. The. Gospel! Do you see how it just drips from these words? This earthly picture of a family welcoming in two children has happened to you and I and all who know the Saving Grace of our Father God!  We were living in our run down, unsafe, unclean homes of sin.  We knew nothing but sin and of self.  We were dead in our transgressions (Ephesians 2:1), And the King of Kings flung open the doors to his home and family and welcomed us in.  To us he gave the rights to be called children of God (John 1:12), to call him, the God of the universe, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).  We have a place at his table (Revelation 19:9), he has prepared a room for us in his heaven (John 14:2).  We are called his children.  Because of this, we can now know what love is, we can now see what we have been saved from. And, dear ones, it took a sacrifice.  It wasn’t a sacrifice of comfort or space, it was a sacrifice of life. Jesus Christ, THE Son of God, took it upon himself to be beaten, bruised, alienated from his Father and killed so that we can know Love - so that we could become the sons and daughters of God.

I was overwhelmed with this truth today as we gathered around the sweet little boy on this beautiful spring day.  Friends and family gathered around hot dogs and cupcakes to celebrate him.  We sang “Happy Birthday” to him, and showered him with cards and gifts just like we have done for our children. As we walked the children over to the playground, and his small hand held mine, I was filled with gratitude to have a small part in this parable of the gospel that was being lived out before my eyes.  All those gathered around today were acting as the church.  He and his sister are a part of all of our family now.  We love them, we pray for them, we help them. There are times when we care for them, times we teach them.  We support their parents, and pray for them as well. We, who know love and family, welcome them in just as we who know Christ are supposed to welcome his children in. We treat them as family, just as God calls us to do with our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

This beautiful story is a blessing to watch, yet it’s scary and uncomfortable. At times I feel I could never do it.  But I have learned much from my dear friend.  She isn’t perfect.  They aren’t rolling in extra money.  And though I jokingly tell her she is super mom, she is not a superhero.  She makes mistakes.  She gets frustrated, she gets weary.  She makes sacrifices and continues to - for the act of welcoming them into the family is only the beginning. They are hers and she loves them. So she teaches and plays with them, she cares for them in sickness and in health, and at times she must discipline them just as she does her older, biological daughters. This journey wasn’t and isn’t a short one, nor a comfortable one. But that’s the beauty of this story: it’s not just the Gospel being lived out for her new son and daughter, it’s God working out the Gospel in her life too.  She isn’t just blessed because she has welcomed these children in, she is blessed that in taking them in there are many times that she is brought to her knees, and she experiences Christ like never before.  

What if more of us lived out our story like this?  What if more of us who have been welcomed and adopted into the family of God did the same for the hurting, the fatherless, the suffering, the needy around us?  What if our driving force wasn’t our status or our stuff?  What if our motivation was the Gospel? What if we sacrificed our comfort, our space, our security as Christ sacrificed His life?  What if we were at least willing enough to pull our fingers out of our ears and listen to what God might be calling us to?   What if we allowed ourselves to be in the position to experience God in a way like never before? What if…

So then, brothers,1 we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:12-17, ESV

Trusting Daddy

 Dear Daughters, 

Chances are you won’t remember tonight, but I want you to…

Tonight didn’t go as you planned.  We were heading out to something that you looked forward to.  But it didn’t happen.  The rain poured, time got away, and when your daddy and I looked in your eyes we saw exhaustion.  Knowing the bigger picture, we knew that your plans was not what was best for you.   So your daddy got back in the car, he turned the car around, and he drove.  I had sat in the back with you girls that day so I wasn’t up front with him.  I didn’t know what his plan was.  You didn’t either.  You both took turns asking “where are we going?”  You sounded worried.   At one point one of you said, “I’m cold, tired and confused.”  Your daddy didn’t say much.  I didn’t know where we were going, but  I knew what to say.  I said, “Just trust Daddy”.  It worked for a moment, then the questions came again.  You still wondered where we were going.   I could understand that.   I turned and looked at you said, “Your daddy cares unbelievably much, he works hard to provide and care for you every day.  You can rest in that and just trust your daddy.” 

It was at that moment that a small still voice whispered “Exactly”.  How much more is that the case with my heavenly Father?  Oh sweet daughters, at 31, I am exactly the same way with Him.  There are times when I am cold, tired, confused, and I question where He is taking me.  More times than I would like to admit I struggle to trust Him.  Yet how much more can we trust Him?  The words I spoke of your earthly father are right.  He loves you truly, madly, deep, but he is an imperfect, flawed man.  He has messed up, he will mess up. Even so, you know you can trust him.  At your young ages, you know that you are safe with him and can rest in his love, in his provision.

Daughter, your Heavenly Father has never failed you, and never will.  He has never messed up.  He loves you truer, for He is Truth.  He loves you more madly, for He sacrificed His own Son for you.  He loves you more deeply, for He is the creator of the deepest of deeps and the highest of highs.  So how much more can you trust in Him?  Your earthly daddy saw your need, knew the bigger picture and acted.  Our heavenly Father created us, he knows the needs we don’t even know.  He sees the bigger picture.  He is the bigger picture.  His actions are always good.

I don’t know if you remember, but tonight you ended up at a Frozen Yogurt Place.  We walked in the brightly colored room, and filled up on Triple Chocolate Ice Cream. We laughed and enjoyed a little family time.  We headed home, tidied up a little, and got in bed early.  God doesn’t always lead us to a brightly colored Frozen Yogurt Place.   There isn’t always chocolate ice cream at the end of our our confusion .  But ultimately there is always something better: His Glory, Knowing him better, becoming more like him.    Sweet daughter, HE is ALWAYS better than ice cream.

As the years go on, you will find yourself in this place.  You will find yourself, confused.  You will wonder where the road is going, why things aren’t going as you anticipated.  When you do, I want you to remember tonight.   I want you to remember how your earthly father saw your need, a need you didn’t want to admit you had, and he acted.  I want you to remember that moment when you trusted him and rested in that.  And I want you to remember how much more you can trust and rest in your Heavenly Father who loves you infinitely more than you can grasp.  

Still Learning,

Momma

An Unexpected Easter Lesson

I think one of the worst things about being a parent is watching your child suffer with the stomach bug.   I christen it the roach of all illness/bugs.  (And if you know me at all, you know I despise roaches.)  The sights, smells, and sounds turn my stomach, but that’s not the worst part.   The worst part is watching your child heave uncontrollably.  It is hearing her cries of “Its not fair” or “Please no” or “I’m so sorry” as if its her fault.  The worst part is being helpless to do anything but hold her hair, clean her off, and talk soothingly. You can’t fix it.  You can’t heal her.  You can't take it away. Your child who you love with all your heart is hurting.  She is scared.  She is in pain. And you are helpless.  Time seems to slow to a crawl in those moments.  

Last night was like that.  My husband and I tag teamed as our daughter fell sick.   Her eyes broke my heart, the twinkle was gone replaced instead with anguish. Sleep was elusive. As I lay beside her feeling her body shiver, listening to her toss and turn, I prayed for peace and strength and healing.  I As I lay there, not sleeping my mind wandered to many things.   I began to think of the week ahead, Easter, and I began to reflect.  And in the awfulness of that moment, there was a tiny glimpse into the heart of God. 

You see there was a night long ago in this Holy Week, where the Father watched as his child suffered.  He was not immune to the sights, smells, and sounds of his child’s anguish.  I’m sure they all turned his stomach.  He heard his child’s cries, he saw his eyes.  His Holy heart broke I know. The comparison only goes so far.  For while I struggled with my daughter suffering with a small stomach bug, the Father watched the Son of God suffer with brutal beatings, taunting, and the incredible anguish of being nailed to a cross.   Yes, the temporary suffering of my sweet child with a small earthly inconvenience doesn’t even begin to  compare  to the brutal suffering inflicted on His Child,  but I think that on this earth in this week, God is using it to open my eyes to the depth of his love.

For as I was helpless to end my child’s suffering, He was not.  At any moment He could have stepped in.  He could have ended the indescribable scene of brutality, the smell of dirt, blood, sweat,  the cries of anguish, the  unimaginable pain, yet he didn’t.  He couldn’t even hold his Son,  He had to turn his back.   My Mother heart, struggles to understand this.   How I would want to end my child’s suffering big or small with just a word.  Those that were offering my child vinegar, spitting on her, or pounding the nails into the flesh, those I would have wiped out.  I can’t fathom watching idly as this happened if I could have stopped it. 

Oh, how deeply grateful I am that I am not God.  For his Holy strength and self control, are the very reason that I am able to sit here and write this.  You see I am why His child suffered. You are why His Child suffered.   Though we did not physically hold the hammer, or push the crown of thorns upon his brow, it was us.  It was our pride,  sin,  selfishness that wounded him. Our sin that was spat upon him. And yet He loved me.  He loved you.  It was this love that kept him there, not the nails.  It was love that kept God from intervening. He knew the only way that you or I could truly live was through this pain.  He loved us so much, he wanted us to have life.  A life that could only come from the Son of God’s pain, heartache, and death.

So this Monday before Easter I am grateful. Yes, I am deeply grateful that my children seem to be returning to health, but its more than that.  I am grateful not that my child suffered, but that the Lord used my child's suffering to give me even the smallest insight into the depth of the Father’s love. I am grateful that He understands my mother heart, but that He was Merciful and Gracious enough to not stop the crucifixion.  I am grateful that the Lord loved me enough to withstand His child’s suffering.  I am grateful that because of his indescribable love, I am His.  I am grateful that he picked me up out of the muck and mire.  I am grateful that death was not the end.  I am grateful that Sunday came.  I am grateful that he lives that we may now live. I am grateful that He didn’t just save me, He continues his sanctifying work in me.  I am grateful that he whispers to me in the everyday  moments of life, teaching me of His extraordinary love and holiness.   Are you grateful this Easter?