Advent is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the unusual combination of sacred and joyful, exciting and peaceful.
But because of my great love for this season, I tend to go overboard. I want to do all the Advent activities! Then inevitably, I burn myself out and lose steam by halfway through the season.
My kids aren’t always the best sports either because, as I’m discovering, they are their own people and they have different tastes and preferences than mine.
So we definitely don’t do everything below each year. In fact, we’ve given up on a few really great products (Truth in the Tinsel, I’m looking at you.) when I realized that the stress their created out weighed the joy. I’ve learned to do a few little things for myself to celebrate Advent even if they don’t all involve the whole family.
I usually have far too many Advent devotionals on the go each year, because I love a new angle on the season. I also have a fascination with the many and beautifully, descriptive names of God.
So this devotional is one I’m really excited about. I’ve started it before but never finished it. That’s something I’m learning to be OK with. I can get something out of a great new devotional without needing to finish it. So if as the holidays close in, and I don’t have time to read every day, it’s ok. I can still have a great experience.
Divine Chocolate Advent Calendar
I usually don’t think of chocolate Advent calendars as being in the true spirit of the season, but I love that a couple of fair trade chocolate companies put these out. One of my lovely small group members bought me one two years ago (probably because I’m always talking about fair trade and ethical purchasing) and I enjoyed a little treat each day and knowing that the hand that made them were paid a living wage.
Adventures in Odyssey
My kids have the Adventures in Odyssey club (which also makes a great Christmas gift, by the way). So we simply used the search menu to find all the Christmas episodes ever made.
However, you can also purchase a compilation album containing many of the best Christmas episodes.
Adventures in Odyssey is a lovely audio drama inspired by the radio shows of the last century while being very much current. I grew up listening and now it’s one of my daughter’s favorite things ever.
While this is definitely a less religious kind of Advent celebration, my kids and I really enjoy the audio Advent calendars from Sparkle Stories. My favorite is still the first, Martin and Sylvia’s Audio Advent Calendar. But the newer ones from the Junk Yard Tales and Libby and Dish series are lovely too.
No Advent resource list would be complete with humbly mentioning my own devotional, As We Wait. These short daily devotions highlight the spirit of Advent from throughout the scriptures, following the line of God’s beautiful plan through the whole of the Bible.
It was a passion project I took on for my mom when she couldn’t find an Advent devotional she liked to replace the simple one of our childhood. But I honestly loved the whole process and hope that you will get some insights from it as well.
However you choose to celebrate this Advent season, with a simple wreath or a daily craft or carol, or all singing-all dancing filled days, may you find within yourself the peace and joy this season is meant to bring as we celebrate the coming of the Savior and our wait for his coming again.
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