A simple Advent tradition from our family to yours

When I look back over the last 21 years of being parents so much has changed. We started with one and now have four. The kids have physically changed of course—they are hairier, larger, far more independent and better conversationalists. On road trips we have less Colin and now enjoy music choices by age from Hannah (12) to Sarah (16) to Will (18) to Josh (if he’s with us, 21) to Dave (Dad) and me (Mum). We’ve moved from plain pasta with cheese and tomato sauce (ketchup not pasta sauce!) to butter chicken. We’ve reached a stage of getting up before most of our children and rarely getting up because of our children. The kids are now responsible for their own breakfasts and lunches, and we no longer have consistent routines for family meals or bedtimes. But for 17 of the last 18 years one thing has been constant: we have used our homemade ‘Christmas Countdown Calendar’ over December to help us to focus on Jesus.

I wrote this resource for our family in 2006. Josh was three and gorgeous. I had just given birth to beautiful William who was a super unsettled baby. Somehow in the sleeplessness of having a newborn, perhaps with hormonal assistance, I set about writing something that would help us to focus on Jesus at Christmas.

A friend had an Advent calendar that focused on the events of the first Christmas. I wanted something more. American resources often referred to a Jesse Tree which was intriguing but felt disjointed and complicated to me. Perhaps I wanted something simpler. What I really wanted was a tool to focus us on Jesus in the chaos of December. Something simple, doable, age-appropriate and theologically rich. I wanted our family to see Jesus at the centre of God’s plans. Not a little baby, but a wonderful King. I wanted our family to see that Jesus arriving at the first Christmas was not the beginning and that Easter was not the end. I wanted our family to trust Jesus and to be ready for his second coming. And all of this in 25 days for a growing, often messy family.

Somehow, we hit on something that was really useful for our family, and our prayer now is that it would be useful for yours. Our aim has been to make time in the midst of a very full December calendar to focus on God’s plans, which focus on Jesus. I don’t think we’ve ever worked through one a day, every day until Christmas. We’ve often had to play catch up. We’re a ‘neurospicy’ family that loves and loathes routine. Sometimes we’ve been out later than usual, packing boxes to move house, running school Scripture assemblies or just peopled out. But even when we’ve had to do the last 14 readings in 7 days, it’s been worth it.

Here’s how we’ve used it. Often on the evening of 30 November I’ve searched for our special numbered envelopes and printed off the readings and pages ready for the kids’ drawings. There have been times of relief when ‘January me’ has already done this in advance, but often it’s a last-minute flurry. The kids have always been excited to see the envelopes up and ready to go on December 1, with the older ones explaining to the younger ones how it’ll be used. It’s been portable enough to come with us on any pre-Christmas holidays.

We have added some activities and discussion questions—and we hope you enjoy these! But honestly, the simplicity of sitting together with a Bible, opening up the envelope, sharing the day’s reading, praying and letting the kids illustrate what they’ve learned has been the most wonderful thing for our family. More wonderful than I could have imagined all those years ago. I'll leave the final word to our son Josh who, at 18, asked, ‘Can we make sure I have one of these if I have kids?’ High praise and a reminder of the wonderful benefit of this tradition for our family.

We’re so excited that our simple Advent tradition is now available for other families (and our own kids!) to use. Head to Youthworks Media to have a look.

---

Janice Whittingham is a mum of four who has lots of plans to make and do things. She's thankful for God's sovereignty and faithfulness in the mess. Together with her husband Dave, Janice is the author of ‘An Arrival to Celebrate’. Dave is the host of two podcasts: Stories of a Faithful God and Stories of a Faithful God for Kids.

For more articles from Growing Faith, subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.
To hear about the latest books and resources from Youthworks Media, subscribe here.