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Celebrate the Meaning of Christmas
Christmas is coming! Although I’m sure you are already quite aware. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year for me! I love the planning and preparation almost more than I love the day itself. The decorating, the shopping, the gift making, the baking, sending cards, receiving cards, or these days, receiving Christmas cards in emails. I love it all.
The rush and excitement and fun of it all just makes me giddy. Even with the restrictions this year the thought of getting out my totes of decor is still exciting! It never fails though, each year, as I attend a Christmas Eve service, I am overcome with an entirely different joy. As I listen to that famous Christmas story, and hold a candle while singing Silent Night, I am moved to tears by the simple and quiet beauty of that hour and all that it represents. Hope. Love. Joy. Peace. I think we can all use a little more of each of those this year!
My oldest granddaughter Morgan will celebrate her 4th birthday in January. With her parents permission, we are going to begin celebrating advent as a major part of our grandparent/grandchild Christmas season. We thought you might want to join us! For the next few weeks, we will be sharing ideas and conversation starters for the weeks of advent.
The Meaning of Advent
What does advent mean? It comes from the Latin word for “arrival” – adventus – and is celebrated in various ways, from the traditional advent wreath to a fun countdown to Christmas. (We do both in our home!) While a countdown calendar will obviously begin on December 1st, the actual first day of Advent season begins four Sundays before Christmas.This year, it begins November 29th.
The Advent Wreath with Grandkids.
I’m planning on sending my daughter’s family this printable advent wreath (below) and some tea-lights, as they do not have a traditional wreath. I will be using the same thing so that when we videochat everything matches. But everyone can certainly use their own! Also, while Sundays are the traditional day to light these candles, we aren’t going to worry about the day of the week.
The candles in a traditional advent wreath are different colors. The hope and peace candle are purple, the pink candle represents joy, and the love candle is also purple. Many add a white candle in the center to represent Christ.
On the fourth Sunday before Christmas you light the hope candle, the third Sunday you light the hope and love candle. This continues until you are lighting all the candles. So here we go!
Week 1 – It’s all about hope.
Hope is part of everyone’s life. We may be hoping for fun things such as a gift, hoping that our team wins, or hoping for a visit with the grandkids. Or our hope may be from more of a desperate perspective such as a job offer or a clear test result. Either way, our ‘hope’ is for something that will make life better.
As you talk with your grandkids about hope, encourage them to share what they hope for, and also how they can offer hope to others.
If you choose to read from the Bible during this time, a great passage is Isaiah 9:6. You can read it here. It describes a promise of deliverance made to people who were in exile. This promise of a baby who would grow up to be their King gave them great hope, and produced strength, patience and encouragement in their lives.
When I’m talking with Morgan, it will sound a little more like this: “God told a man named Isaiah that Jesus was coming. Isaiah knew that God always keeps his promises. When Isaiah said that Jesus was coming no one knew exactly who he was or how long with would be before he came to Earth. But Isaiah used words like Wonderful, Mighty, Everlasting, and Prince of Peace to describe him so everyone knew He was going to be awesome. They had great hope and began to watch for him!”
Discussion Starters:
- What are you hoping for this Christmas?
2. What might someone who has (or doesn’t have) a certain item hope for? This is a great way to include challenges such as homelessness or food insecurity in your conversation.
3. How can you offer hope to someone else? You may need to adapt this for younger kids – for example, how can you help someone who is having a hard time with something or having a hard day?
Questions for older grandkids:
4. What is a promise?
5. How does keeping a promise help someone have hope?
Christmas Coloring Ornament
Print and mail, or send electronically, the ornaments attached in the wreath download (above). You can have fun coloring it with your grandkids while you chat, and then hang them on your Christmas trees if you want!
Bonus Activity: Looking for baby Jesus
Invite your grandchild’s parents to hide a baby doll and pretend that it is Baby Jesus, or you can hide one and take them on a virtual mission to find it. Invite your grandchild to search for the baby. (Morgan has a little people nativity set. It will be perfect for this activity!)
Don’t forget to watch for next week’s post “All About Love” in your inbox next Monday!