Advent

I remember the first year our family celebrated Advent. I grew up in a non-traditional, non-denominational church without an Advent tradition, and so did my wife. We were young parents when we discovered Advent. It was a new idea to us, and we thought a great way to teach our 3 daughters about the true meaning of Christmas. We were young and poor. We lived in a mobile home and shared one car… a Ford Pinto. Buying a fancy Advent wreath wasn’t an option, so Sandy created one. She wrapped an empty Kleenex box with Christmas wrapping paper, poked 5 holes in it for the candles, and we had our center-piece of hope, joy, peace, and love. Our girls were aged 3, 1½ and newborn. For small children, just lighting a candle was an exciting experience. Amy, our 3-year-old was thrilled when we told her she would get to light the first candle.



To add even more excitement to the experience we included a little drama to the story. After gathering the family around the Kleenex Box/Advent wreath Sandy made some excuse to leave the room as I told the girls that we had a very special visitor coming to celebrate Advent with us that night. Right on queue Sandy came back into the room with scarf on her head and shawl around her shoulders. “My name is Mary,” she told the girls, “I am the mother of Jesus.”

She proceeded to tell the Christmas story from the perspective of Mary. The girls were completely mesmerized. Amy lit the first Advent Candle and “Mary” said her good-byes and left the room. When Sandy came back into the room Amy said, “Oh Mommy, you missed Mary!” And so began our family Advent tradition.

Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness symbolized by the Advent candles representing the hope, faith, joy, and love we have in Christ.  The candles remind us of the light of God coming into the world. The light from the candles grows brighter as each week comes closer to Christmas.  Finally the fifth candle is lit on Christmas Eve representing the birth of the Savior, the light of the world. Advent is great way to teach our children about the true meaning of Christmas. There’s an endless supply of Advent resources on the internet. Just google “Advent” and start looking.