Why We Celebrate Advent (& 10 Ways Your Family Can Honor the Season)

"In the Christian story God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity…down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him.

One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders. Or one may think of a diver, first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing down through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through increasing pressure into the death-like region of ooze and slime and old decay; then up again, back to colour and light, his lungs almost bursting, till suddenly he breaks surface again, holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing that he went down to recover. He and it are both coloured now that they have come up into the light: down below, where it lay colourless in the dark, he lost his colour, too.”
–C.S. Lewis, Miracles

Up until just a couple of years ago, I never really celebrated Advent - neither as a child, nor with my own little ones and family.

With each passing year, the commercialism and insanity of the Christmas season (all 2.5 months of it, or so it seems) burrowed deeper under my skin. The fact that year after year, I allow myself - and, by extension, my family - to get swept up in all things that I find distasteful about Christmas in modern America is a testament to our complacency with the ways of this world.

So as the years went by, and the weight of discipling our little ones through this tainted world pressed heavier on my heart, I realized how this blessed season offers an ideal opportunity to focus our hearts and minds specifically on Christ's coming.

Why Advent Is Worth Celebrating 

Graham Dennis, the Veritas Dean of Students, is an ardent Advent advocate. He has eloquently written on this topic in previous years. Here are his insights on why Advent is worth celebrating.

Advent is a season in which, historically, the church has remembered the incarnation of Christ. It is a season that emphasizes, more than anything else, the greatest miracle of all, divine humility. Think about it: God the Son, the Creator of the universe, takes on flesh and humbles himself and becomes man. More than that, as Philippians 2 tells us, Jesus forsook his rights as the second person of the Trinity and abased himself to the point of a terribly humiliating death on a cross.

In the quote that opened this post, C.S. Lewis emphasizes the miraculous way God decided to save us. He decided to enter into our broken world by going down, down, down into the depths of its brokenness. But he came down to burst upward, carrying the broken thing on his back. He came down to make something new and beautiful out of the tragedy of his ruined creation.

The Advent and Christmas season, then, should cause us to reflect upon the great mystery of the incarnation. What is often lost in this season, however, is the anticipation that surrounds the incarnation.

A Great Story With a Greater Ending

In all great stories, a terrible conflict is revealed that must be resolved lest the story devolve into tragedy. The participants in the story wait with bated breath for the resolution. By fits of action—honest but impotent attempts to solve the problem themselves—they discover their need of a savior. In their darkest moments, they pray for the savior to come. The advent of the savior brings hope, and the longed-for possibility of a resolution of the terrible conflict. But the savior too has a great struggle. He is bloodied by the battle. He is scarred. It looks like he might be defeated. And then, when all hope is lost, suddenly comes the victory. The denouement leaves us breathless.

In our families, we want to recreate this anticipation during this season. The advent season should be a season of reflection. We reflect upon our own brokenness. We reflect upon our own need of a savior. We reflect upon our own anticipation of a longed-for denouement that resolves the terrible conflict and brings joy where there was once despair, as we sing in the hymn of the advent season, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” We place ourselves within a story, a story in which we, too, are anticipating the advent of a miraculous savior. A gift is most deeply appreciated when it is most desperately needed.

Chiefly, Advent is a season in which we are reminded not only of the original need for a savior, but also our present and continual need for his return. In this sense, Advent not only celebrates his first coming, but it also looks forward to, and anticipates, his final advent. Thus, the Gospels mention many times the need for us to be ready. Readiness comes from a desire for him to return. We must ready our hearts for his return so that when he comes he finds us waiting for him.

The German word sehnsucht conveys the idea of a painful yet strangely joyful desire. It is an ache in our souls. We are preparing our hearts because we are awaiting—with aching longing—the advent of the perfect gift.

Creating anticipation is easy during the Advent season because our children are already anticipating the advent of their own gifts! However, before those gifts come, we can place them in their proper context. We are, ultimately, anticipating the return of the greatest gift, Christ. This reminds us that the people “walking in darkness” were waiting for a great light to appear (Isaiah 9:2). And even though he has already appeared and his light has shown in the darkness, and will not be overwhelmed by it (John 1:5), we are still waiting for his final advent. We rejoice in the “already,” but wait, longingly, for the “not yet.”

How Your Family Can Honor Advent

Are you inspired to awaken a sense of joyful longing in your family's hearts this season? Here are some practical, mostly simple suggestions from the local Veritas school community, where Lancaster County families like yours share their favorite products, ideas, and scriptures to help us all celebrate Advent better.

1) Daily Devotions

Whether or not devotions are a part of your daily rituals already, Advent is a great time to be a ltitle more intentional about reading the Word together and diving deeper into who this Savior is that was born in Bethlehem. Here are some favorite Advent devotions mentioned by Veritas families (most of which are available as a Kindle e-book for those of you who don't have time to buy a hard copy):

• Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas
• The Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Calendar
• Hallelujah: A Journey through Advent with Handel's Messiah
• Unwrapping the Names of Jesus: An Advent Devotional 
• Or, for a free Advent devotional guide going through the names of Jesus, try this one from ForTheFamily.org.

2) Jesse Tree

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord."
Isaiah 11:1-3

Just as Israel has longed for centuries for their Messiah - whose origins are from old (Micah 5:2) - to come forth from the line of Jesse and King David, so we can get a fuller picture of God's perfect plan for redemption by looking at the lineage of Jesus from creation to his birth. Each daily ornament corresponds with a different scripture from Old Testament stories of Israel's history, Jesus's family lineage, prophecies, and the first Nativity story. You can choose to buy a pre-made ornament set, get crafty and make some yourself, or keep it simple with free printables that your kids can color. Then, hang the ornaments on your exisiting Christmas tree, or use a smaller tree, a vase with branches, or even a paper or felt poster.

3) Advent Calendar

Get a good Advent calendar that gives the children both pieces of the story of Christmas and images and symbols that can help to fill out their imaginations. When this is done annually, it creates placeholders in their imagination—placeholders filled every year by Christian imagery, Christian joy, Christian hope. You can purchase one like any of these shown on Christianbooks.com, use free printables like these from the Happy Home Fairy, or find inspiration to make your own on Pinterest.

4) Advent Candle

Veritas friend Kathy McClure says on her blog Frugal Lancaster, "my mom always had a count-down Advent candle and I love continuing that tradition. The kids love to watch it burn at dinner each night, and to take turns blowing it out. Plus, I think kids are calmer and quieter when a candle is lit, and we’ll do anything for a peaceful meal!"

(Don't want to buy an Advent candle? Make your own simple one!)

Our family does our Advent devotional reading (we either read through the book of Luke or do the Names of Jesus devotional reading from For the Family) along with your daily countdown candle lighting, even over dinner (the devotional can provide great dinner table conversation as you watch the candle burn).

5) St. Nicholas Day

Want to put some flesh and bone (and heart) into the legend of Santa Claus? Celebrate St. Nicholas Day (December 6) with your kids and honor the real man who loved God and loved others so well.

Veritas parent and teacher Leslie Bustard says "we like to remember St. Nicolas Day on December 6. We always read a short story that (my husband, Ned) wrote about St. Nicoloas. And since we didn’t know all the real traditions around this church calendar day when we first discovered St. Nicolas, we made up some of our own traditions, including buying winter PJs for the kids and giving bags of chocolate balls (covered in gold wrappings) and clementines to the children of our care group. Sometimes we gave gifts to the local Milagro House."

Other suggestions for celebrating St. Nicholas include making cookies or other treats with your children and then secretly leaving them at your neighbors' homes, with a local shelter, or in classmates' backpacks or desks at school. It's a good way to teach your children to take joy in blessing others without getting any recognition back ("When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Matthew 6:3).

For more information about St. Nicholas and the ways he is celebrated, click here.

6) Prayer Garland

Using colored paper and glue or tape, make a prayer garland by writing the names of 24 different people, organizations, issues, countries, or communities on the paper strips and making a paper chain. Hang it somewhere visible in your home, and each day, take a chain "link" off and pray as a family for whatever is written on it. It can help take your family's minds off of yourselves (and your kids' Christmas lists) and focus on the needs of others as well as God's goodness and sovereignty.

7) Significant Traditions

In each day leading up to Christmas, look at a different Christmas symbol or tradition and learn together about the history and meaning behind it. A quick Google search can uncover ample information about such things, and it helps everyone understand the significance behind the symbols of the season like Christmas trees, lights, and candy canes.

Remind children about the Christian traditions that have pervaded Christmas through the ages. The evergreen of a Christmas tree signifies that Christ’s life is “ever green.” The red of the holly plant reminds us of the blood of Christ, which makes our life “ever green.” Explain to them that the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, but that from Christmas on, the light is increasing. Christ is the “light of the world.” And, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

The traditions surrounding St. Nicholas, or the story of King Wenceslaus, or the Christmas hymns that have such beautiful imagery (like “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree”)—all of these are wonderful ways to create an imagination in our children, an imagination filled with more than toys, cookies, and “ho, ho, ho.” In fact, it will make all of those things infinitely more meaningful, and thus more joyful.

8) Christmas Carols

Speaking of meanings, another aspect of Christmas you can look at as a family during advent are the traditional Christmas carols. Dive into a different Christmas carol each day - sing it together, then talk briefly about the meaning of the lyrics. Young children can often be way off base in their interpretation of what they're hearing in those carols (like my friend's daughter who interpreted "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" as "Gloria in a Chelsea stable"). It will help all of you not only appreciate the songs more, but also the significance of the season.

9) Serving Others

One of the ways that we can ready our hearts is to serve others, just as Christ served us. The incarnation is the ultimate example of self-sacrificial servanthood. This attitude of service can be cultivated simply by helping our children to identify those in their midst who are needy. Maybe an elderly neighbor could use a little company. Maybe grandma and grandpa could use some help cleaning out the garage. Start an Operation Christmas Child campaign in your church and involve your children in the process of buying gifts and packing boxes. Certainly siblings can shop for each other and be intimately involved in the process (and joy) of giving. 

10) A Gradual Nativity Scene

Instead of setting up your family nativity scene all at once, consider setting it up in stages, and letting your children "act out" the Christmas story with the various characters. Perhaps you begin with the angel, who will first announce the news to Mary. The first night, talk about the angels existing with God, and Jesus being firstborn among all creation, greater than the angels. Then you can bring in Mary on night two, getting the news from the angel. You can even set the nativity pieces at different places in your home, and move them around each night, as the characters make their journey to the holy night when Christ was born.

A final note of grace

If you've gotten this far and now you're stressed about trying to add "something else" to your already crazy holiday schedule (believe me, I'm there), take heart, friend: give yourself grace and don't feel like you need to do this in order to be a good, Godly parent. If Advent doesn't happen in your home this year (or any other year for that matter), your family will be just fine...especially if it means that you are able to more fully relax and enjoy the season without feeling the pressure of perfection. I'll say it again: grace, grace! There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus...even those who don't celebrate Advent with a Pinterest-perfect advent candle devotional and craft over dinner every night. If there were...well, I would be in big trouble! 

But, if you were looking for a way to add an Advent tradition to your household, now you have some (hopefully) simple ideas to focus your heart and minds on the Savior of the Nations, born unto us with tidings of peace on earth and goodwill to men.

Even if your kids have a screaming brawl over who gets to light the Advent candle that night.

Peace on earth...goodwill to men...and grace abounding!

If you are looking for a school community that honors the great traditions of our faith and holds students to a standard of excellence in curriculum and in Christ, we invite you to visit Veritas for a tour where you can see the impact that Classical Christian Education can have on your child and your family. 

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