Christmas Advent ‘23

When my kids were little our Advent time was usually incorporated into our school day. Some years I worked with them on memorizing the account of Jesus’s birth in Luke 2 (tip: The Charlie Brown Christmas movie helped with that!) Some years I read through a children’s devotional book and we made a craft or did a service project to go along with that day’s message. Having older kids now ages 19 and 12 in the home, we’re enjoying a more mature type of Advent.

I’ve mentioned before that our family has a Bible time after dinner. It’s nothing rigid and not even every night but just a few nights a week when everyone is home and we can read through a chapter of the Bible and discuss. So, during that regular Bible time for December, my husband has been reading to us from Salvation Has Come by Gregg Matte which includes 25 devotionals from the book of Luke to help us slow down and center our hearts on the true meaning of Christmas.

After Joel reads from that book, I follow up with a quick story from a little book his grandmother gave me shortly after we were married, so it’s already special for that reason alone. Christmas Stories for the Heart is a collection of heartwarming stories and lessons for the holiday season. Each story is brief so it’s an easy and pleasant read when you just need a little coffee or tea break in the midst of baking and wrapping gifts! I also like to keep it on my nightstand for a sweetly calming read before I go to sleep. I pull this book out every Christmas!

For my own personal morning quiet time, I’m reading again through Ruth Chou Simons’s Emmanuel and it’s been full of so many reminders for keeping my heart focused correctly during the Christmas season. I shared more about this lovely book about approaching the holidays with a heart of expectancy in a post last year called Are You Overwhelmed or Overjoyed this Christmas?. Ruth’s way of writing about Jesus is deeply spiritual and her stunning watercolor paintings are a delightful bonus.

Here are few takeaways from my readings in Emmanuel so far this year:

🌟The stories we tell ourselves about the season— especially the Christmas season— shape how we feel and act in response.
🌟What we believe we are waiting for in this season affects our posture, and that, in turn, determines the difference between whether we are overjoyed or overwhelmed.
🌟If peace is what we seek, we will find its true source only in Christ.
🌟We will experience the magnitude of Christmas only to the extent that we understand the grace and mercy of Gods plan of redemption.
🌟When we feel alone in this world, we need to remember that God created us for relationship and nearness to Him.
🌟Pain doesn’t take a holiday. Be it sickness, death, sickness, death, separation, conflict, or sadness, sin is the source of brokenness we all feel on this side of heaven.
🌟Only those who are heartbroken seek to have their hearts mended. And thus, surrender is the very place where God meets us with hope.
🌟In the dizzying array of technology and man-made creations, it’s easy to be in awe of the work of our own hands, forgetting the very breath we breathe is a gift from God.
🌟The miracle of Christmas is in this: that a holy God made a way for all who believe to come to Him by first coming to us.
🌟What overwhelms us does not overwhelm Jesus.
🌟With Jesus, our access to counsel is unlimited (in regards to Jesus being the Wonderful Counselor).
🌟Nothing good lasts forever. Except God.

And lastly, a book I recently gave my daughter after she finished her last exams is Bright Evening Star by Madeleine L’Engle, an author my daughter and I both enjoy. She’s still reading it but says it’s good so far. I’ve not read it but plan to borrow her copy for a nice post-holiday read when she’s finished.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I pray you’re enjoying a blessed season of Advent reflecting on the birth of our Savior!

For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11