Katie Westenberg

I Choose Brave

Ideas for Advent – Top Picks for Celebrating Advent With Your Family

by Katie

 

Simple ideas for celebrating advent as a family and the best books for advent. #advent #familytradition #christmastradition

                                                    This post may contain affiliate links which support this site.

 

As a child, advent, to me, was a calendar.  You know, the ones with tiny boxes to open and count down the days until Christmas?  Similar to the big ball dropping in New York City on New Year’s Eve, advent was a fun countdown to the funnest day EVER.

And I nursed my children on the same concept.  They each have their own calendar and we excitedly countdown the days together. It’s kind of a big deal in our home.

It wasn’t until recent years that I really began to fully understand the concept of advent, which comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”.

This season, beginning four Sundays before Christmas and culminating on Christmas Eve, is set aside to celebrate the “coming” of our Lord as a child, some 2,000 years ago, as well as to anticipate His coming again.

Many of my favorite ways to celebrate Christmas are the ones steeped deep in rich tradition and let me tell you, friends, advent does not disappoint.

Traditionally advent is celebrated with a wreath and candles, scripture reading and prayer.  I love the simplicity of this and hope to celebrate advent this way as my kids get older.  But for now, the idea of tall taper candles burning on the kitchen table for hours on end, sounds like a recipe for celebrating Christmas with an insurance claim.  So we choose to celebrate advent with ways that don’t involve fire for now.

Matthew 1:23 God is with us.

When my oldest son was about 5 we began reading Arnold Ytreeide’s advent storybooks.  These books are truly fabulous.  They are historical fiction dramas, set in Israel at the time of Christ’s birth, and lead to the story of Christ’s birth beautifully.  Ytreeide draws the reader into the events surrounding the Christmas story and makes good use of cliff hangers that leave children (and adults) begging for the next reading.

The stories are a little intense and pushed the limits of my 5 year old’s attention span so I wouldn’t recommend them for children much younger than that, but we have come to love these stories in our family.

There are four books available in his series, each containing a chapter for every day of advent and some simple takeaway/discussion points as well.   One book would be more than sufficient to get you started.  However, the characters in the different books connect so it’s fun to follow up with another book the following year.

 

Last year, as a family, we read through Ann VosKamp’s Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas and I read through her adult devotional The Greatest Gift, on my own.  I really loved this combination as I would do my individual advent reading in the dark morning hours, long before the kids woke.  When we sat down to do the family reading at dinner, I had already had time to ponder the ideas, as the chapters follow the same theme and verses, and I could bring a little more to the table to share with my kids.

The children’s reading comes with access to printable ornaments which coincide with each reading and my kids thoroughly enjoyed taking turns placing the ornaments on our little tree each evening.  They also served as a continual reminder as we moved through the season and reflected on past readings.

This year, I’ve ordered this collection of readings from John Piper to do on my own and I’ll be going through yet another Ytreeide book with my children.  Christmas is a season where distraction is paramount as we are pulled in so many directions and schedules get out of sync, but giving the first moments of my day to setting my heart on what the season really means has become one of my absolute favorite habits this time of year.  Plus there is just something magical to me about getting up when the house is quiet,having coffee and reading by the sparkly lights of the Christmas tree.

 

While these are some of my favorite books, there are also many ways to build the tradition of celebrating advent in your home without spending any money at all. Here are a few ideas for advent on a budget:

• Check with your church.  Often times churches will put out an advent devotional.  In fact one of my all-time favorite readings was one written by the pastor’s wife at my parent’s church a few years ago.

• Check online.  I found one here and here, but there are plenty of others as well.

• Check Pinterest.  Actually I’ve created a shortcut for you by pinning some great advent devotionals I’ve seen on Pinterest (and many other favorite Christmas ideas as well!).  Just click here and follow my board Best Christmas EVER.  That is where I’ll be pinning all my Christmas favorites.

Lastly, I just wanted to remind you (and myself!) that if the nativity reveals anything, it is grace.  Grace in the lowliest of places, grace in seeming messes, grace accessible to every single one of us.  Please don’t let advent reading become yet another Christmas obligation.  Start a tradition, do your best, but don’t get frustrated when time and events require that you miss a day.  Don’t throw in the towel and think you are an advent-fail.  Just start back in where you can and make the most of where you are.  There is grace enough for all of us.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Moora says

    Love reading your blog :). It’s been a fun way to get to know more! Excited for Christmas and the coming of the newborn King!

  2. Sally Matheny says

    My mother always read a book to my sister and me when we were children in the weeks prior to Christmas. It is a beautiful tradition we have carried on with our own children. We also like using an advent wreath.

  3. Claire says

    I have heard about this advent book from a few different people but haven’t been able to do it myself yet. So fun!

    • Katie says

      No pressure, Mim, but it certainly is a wonderful tradition and helpful tool for inclining the hearts and minds of our children (as well as our own!) toward Christ during this wonderful season!

  5. Leanne says

    I think I loved doing advent most when the kids were little. While we only tied treats on the advent calendar, we loved reading about the Christmas story around the table. Now my daughter just made her own advent calendar for the grands. What a great tradition 🙂

    • Katie says

      Oh, Leanne, I have never thought about advent after my kids are gone! You’ve reminded me to enjoy each and every year I get to celebrate with them in my home.

  6. Michelle says

    I’m excited to try something new. We do two different Jesse tree stories and have matching ornaments I made…..the kids love it ( probably they love the little cubbies with the ornaments….and the treats for them?)

    • Katie says

      Ooh, I can’t believe I’ve never read anything by Louis Giglio! I definitely need to change that in the next year. Blessings to you as well, Kelly!

  9. Sarah says

    My family has loved the Ytreeide books as well. We’re stoked to start the new one at the end of the month. I’m wanting to be more purposeful about Advent this year. I think the more into it I am, the more it’ll spill into my girls’ hearts as well.

  10. Nicole @ Three 31 says

    Even though Kamden will be two this Christmas, I want to start our Advent traditions. In other exciting news, I’m leading three adult sessions of an Advent study at church beginning Nov 29.

  13. Debbie Wilson says

    Katie,
    Those are wonderful ideas for celebrating Advent. I have some Christmas books I bring out every year. I love unpacking them and rereading the ones that I have enjoyed. Thank you for sharing.

  14. Laura E says

    So excited for a chance to win! I love getting Christmas cards in the mail (yay for more than bills!!) and all the family time that comes with Christmas. This year, I’m especially excited for the Christmas play our church is doing, and Addie and I are both in it!

    • Katie says

      How fun, Laura! Christmas cards are my favorite as well. We actually kind of fight the entire month of December over who gets to get the mail. It’s very jolly fighting, of course. 😉

  15. Rachel H says

    Glad to know about the Ytreeide books. We love to do a Christmas book advent, and I’m inspired by your posts to be intentional in preparing my heart in the early morning…I love this series of posts! Thank you.

  17. Tracey says

    Katie, thank you so much for the advent ideas! I am excited to get started too. Love this time of year!

  18. Johanna says

    How exciting!! I do not have these books and have wanted them 🙂 YEA! I will be spreading the word on Facebook and Pinterest for you as well! Great job Katie!!

  19. Rhiannon says

    Lovely ideas for doing advent. I did not grow up doing this so it is a new idea for me, but it is something I want to start in my family. Thanks for the ideas on getting started!