Celebrating the birth of Jesus!

Our most joyous times are when we take time to focus on the abundance of God's goodness, mercy, and loving kindness in our lives.  That is what the Thanksgiving season is all about.  We want our lives to reflect that same spirit of thankfulness each day - not just one day out of the year!

Our joy continues now as we enter the season of celebrating our Savior's birth!!  Wow - it makes my heart overflow with praise!

Several years ago, I received an excellent book, "The ADVENTure of Christmas - Helping Children Find Jesus in our Holiday Traditions" by Lisa Whelchel.  Since then, Jason and I have used the writings and activities in this book with the children during the Christmas season.

We started celebrating the season over the weekend by picking out our tree and decorating.  We all agree that this year's tree is the best one yet - I think we say that every year :)!  And, last night we focused our attention on the season of Advent.  The word "Advent" means, "to come," and it is referring to Jesus' coming to earth as a baby on Christmas Day.  We talked about what it means to prepare for Advent, and we focused on the reason for the celebrations and parties surrounding this holiday season.

 

Today, Emily Ann and I made an Advent Calendar of Kisses.  This is a fun way for us all to count down the days until Christmas.  Beginning on December 1, we'll exchange one kiss from one of the children (I'm sure there will be lots of arguing over who goes first) for a "chocolate kiss" from the Advent calendar as we count down the days!

Another Advent or "coming" that God has promised is Jesus' second coming.  As we celebrate Jesus' first arrival here on earth, it is a good time to look within to see if there are any areas that need cleaning up as we anticipate Jesus' second coming.  Praise God for His Christmas Gift to us - nothing will ever satisfy us more!