Growing up in a Christian home we had a lot of wonderful family traditions. One of these consisted of a countdown calendar that usually contained a hidden chocolate surprise for each day of December. For us, it was a fun way to give us a visual marker of how many days until Christmas. If you are like me and did not grow up experience the full meaning of with little understanding of Advent then I hope this will be a useful tool for you. Otherwise let this be a reminder of the importance of the season of Advent and how you can communicate this with your children.
What is Advent? A way to countdown to Christmas, right?
Well, yes and no. Advent is a season of preparation for Christmas. But Advent is actually not intended to be an extension of Christmas, which is what usually happens (i.e. Christmas music the day after Halloween!). In fact, Advent is a completely different season of its own. One might argue that a proper Christmas cannot be had without a proper Advent first.
What’s the purpose of Advent?
To remember that salvation is coming and has come. It’s a time of waiting, reflecting, contemplation, repentance, longing, and, in the midst of all these (and most importantly), hope. It’s light breaking into darkness. Sometimes Advent is called “Little Lent” because of the tone of the season, which is a little more somber, held back, and reserved. In today’s day and age, we tend to want to skip straight to the party without pausing to remember why we’re celebrating. Advent reminds us that we are a people of promise in a world of impatience. Advent helps us pause by reminding us of the condition of our hearts before God and why we so desperately needed Him to come as He did. It gives us space to long for and prepare for Him to come again to bring the final restoration of all things, just as the song says: “Let every heart prepare Him room.” “Advent, more than any other time of the church year, invites us to embrace the spiritual discipline of waiting.”
So when does Advent start?
It begins four Sundays before Christmas. So in 20202 Advent begins November 29 and ends December 24, according to the Christian calendar.
What are practical ways I can bring Advent into my daily life?
As previously mentioned, Advent is much more than a way to countdown to Christmas. But we won’t experience the fullness of the tradition without intentional change. Here are a few suggestions for how to begin observing Advent this year:
Communally/In Your Family:
• The Daily Office: Advent is a great opportunity to bring back the ancient Judeo-Christian practice of the daily office (i.e. praying during specific times of the day) from The Book of Common Prayer. Aim for gathering once a day as a family during Advent. It takes the pressure off of finding a perfect devotional or coming up with something inspiring to say (a lot of those things are just cheesy to teens anyway) and roots us in the beautiful rhythms used by Christians for many years. When we don’t feel like praying, the words in these prayers speak to and form our hearts, reminding us of the truth. (Here’s an online tool for guiding you through the daily office.)
• Jesse Tree:A Jesse tree is a fun Advent tradition that is perfect for younger children (it’s very hands-on) and could be fun for teens as well, whether or not you choose to use the ornaments. The Advent Jesse Tree by Dean Lambert Smith has short simple devotions for both adults and children that walk you through the story leading up to the birth of Emmanuel. Ann Voskamp’s book Unwrapping the Greatest Gift is a little more flowery in its writing but may capture the attention of older children.
• Music: Spotify has some good Advent playlists. You can find some that are oriented solely toward Advent rather than including Christmas music. Try “Midwinter Carols” by Joel Clarkson, or Simple Advent, a playlist by Tsh Oxenreider
• Here are some great advent hymns and carols to sing: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,”and “Joy to the World.” (Sometimes somber, mysterious, lamentful, minor-key music is a welcome change from joyful carols.)
• Ask your teens for ideas of music that reflect the tone of this season: waiting, longing, and hope. Either they’ll have some great ideas or they’ll be able to find it a lot quicker than we can!
• Advent wreath: Whether you buy a traditional advent wreath with purple, pink, and white candles or simply light a candle you already have, this can be a meaningful way to remind us of the season each time we gather together during Advent and keep vigil as we wait. Light it daily, or every Sunday of Advent. You may let the candles symbolize the virtues of hope, peace, joy, and love, but at the very least let them remind you of the ever-increasing light as your hope builds in anticipation of Christmas.
• Christian Calendar: Buy a wall calendar that is divided into pages that correlate with each liturgical season as a reminder that we don’t mark time as the world marks time.
• Advent Calendar: Use an Advent calendar or some other countdown that fosters togetherness and community, such as drinking a different tea each day or coloring together. You can’t rush through a steaming cup of tea! And if phones aren’t allowed, the act of drinking it invites reflection and a slower pace. Or if it’s chocolate you prefer, why not choose some good quality chocolate and take time to really savor it?
• Jesus: Wait to add baby Jesus to the nativity until Christmas morning. (Bonus points if you hide the magi away until Epiphany!)
• Serving: Look beyond the walls of your house. Advent practices have always included giving, serving, and reaching out to the poor. Take this as an opportunity to set aside a day (or more) to serve as a family in your community. Ask your teens for ideas on how to do this!
Personally:
• Habits: Consider getting up half an hour earlier than usual during Advent to spend some extra time reflecting, reading, praying, and journaling.
• Reflection: Maybe even take a half-day retreat.
• Confession: Take time to confess your sins. Write them out, and allow yourself to feel the magnitude and weight of them. Ask God to break in and work in your life. But also remind yourself of the forgiveness we’ve already been given. “May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image, to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen” (from The Book of Common Prayer). This could be a great family activity as well.
• Pace: Push back on the busyness and say no to things that aren’t life-giving to you and your family.
• Gifts: Simplify gift-giving! Don’t get caught up in the stress and consumerism that this time of year often brings. Maybe draw names so that each person only buys a gift for one person. Or choose a dollar amount, then let each person buy a gift for themselves in that range. Or, if your family’s crafty, make gifts for each other instead of buying them. There are many ways to change our habits in this area so that we can better focus on what we’ve already been given.
• Scripture: Consider using these passages in your personal time or reading them aloud as a family:
You could add to this list anything else that shapes your heart to prepare for the coming of Christ and causes you to recognize your spiritual apathy and return to true worship. Be creative and see what you can come up with!
We’re so busy. How will we ever have time for this?!
We hear you! We all tend to be pretty busy, especially during this time of year. This is a good excuse to slow down and say no to some things for the sake of better things. We all long for rest and a slower pace, but that won’t happen without intentionality. However, it would be of the greatest irony if reading this caused more stress or burden in your life. Our advice is to start where you are and start small. What’s one thing you can change this year? One rhythm you can add? We have total freedom to observe or not observe these liturgical seasons—it’s a “get to,” not a “have to.” And there are lots of great ideas but no prescription for how exactly to go about it. Give it time to figure out how Advent fits into your family’s culture. It’s hard! But this isn’t a to-do list; it’s an invitation to something rich and beautiful.
Won’t my teens just roll their eyes at this?
Teens’ lives are moving at breakneck speed most of the time. As parents we might find ourselves becoming afraid that if our church culture or family culture doesn’t measure up to the fast pace and excitement of the culture at large, our teens will get bored and not have compelling reasons to stay in the faith.
In the book You Are What You Love, author James K.A. Smith proposes that, in our quest to captivate teens’ attention and keep things relevant, we’ve “created youth ministry that confuses extroversion with faithfulness” and acted like “sincerely following Jesus is synonymous with being ‘fired up’ for Jesus, with being excited for Jesus, as if discipleship were synonymous with fostering an exuberant, perky, cheerful, hurray-for-Jesus disposition like what we might find in the glee club or at a pep rally.” He argues that ancient and historic worship, disciplines, and practices of the faith can actually be a “life-giving gift” to today’s teens and like giving them “rafts to make their way into the river of grace.” Whether or not this might be true of your teen, consider giving it a try. It just might be what they didn’t know their hearts were longing for.
A final thought
As we ponder this Advent arrival and what it means to be ready, we may see the sin and mess of our lives. We may start to think of how we need to make our hearts right before God. But if this is something we could do on our own, then we wouldn’t need rescuing. This is the Gospel in Advent. We have no more capacity and ability to change and clean up our hearts than we do to make the sun rise. But we wait with expectancy that the sun will rise, that Christ will come. Our job is to stay awake.
And being ready doesn’t mean we’ve perfectly cleaned up our lives. Rather, we’re ready for the bridegroom to come and rescue us. The purpose of the spiritual disciplines of Advent—and of all spiritual disciplines—is to keep us awake. We wait with joyful anticipation and with full assurance that God will rescue us, full assurance that He will return to redeem everything. We want to be awake when the sun begins to rise. We look to that future day, but we also ask Him to break in on our lives, regularly. Light breaking into darkness. Come, Lord Jesus!
10:30 Dance Off (A. Morris, T. Morris, K. Gale & N. Puz) Goal: Donations & Pledges totaling $7,000
12:30 Bean Boozled (S. Boyce, L. Morris) Goal: Donations & Pledges totaling $9,000
2:30 Super Soaker (Faculty & Staff) Goal: Every student who is responsible for a minimum donation of $20 (online or cash/check by 1:00 PM) will get one chance to super soak a member of our Staff or Faculty
4:30 Pie FEEDING Contest (H. Thomas, L. Knight, K. Haney, and others!) Goal: Donations & Pledges totaling $11,000
6:30 Egg Challenge Staff will crack an egg on their head. Is it hard-boiled or not??? We will find out in a funny way! (K. Haney, A. Shiflett, L. Morris, H. Thomas) Goal: Donations & Pledges totaling $13,000
ALL-DAY CHALLENGES:
$20,000 MRS. KNIGHT WILL DYE HER HAIR PINK & BLUE
$30,000 MR. SHIFLETT WILL GET A HENNA TATTOO ON HIS HEAD