How to Wait: Resources for Advent

December is here, which means we’re finally in the season of Advent. While it was killer as a kid, I totally love the practice of preparing in the waiting. Christmas is never just about the one day of celebration but it is about all that build up, too. And despite growing up in the faith, each year I have to purposefully remind myself to slow down, reflect, find peace, and remember what Christmas is all about.

If you’re jumping into this busy holiday season needing daily reminders for yourself and your kids, just like I do, allow me to suggest a few resources for your Advent. Don’t worry if you’re a day late or a week late. It is much better to jump in than to put it off until next year. {Please note that none of these links are affiliate links. I’m just honestly recommending them from the bottom of my heart.}

Canadian Baptist Advent Reader

I am extremely excited to share this resource both because this is how I will be preparing myself for Christmas, but also because I am one of the authors. You’ll find my Advent reflection right there on December 14th. The best part? It is free. You can access the whole reader right here from this link. And don’t worry if you’re not a Baptist. This reader was written from a Christian perspective, and anyone who shares that, or grabs hold of that at Christmas time, or wants to read it despite that, should feel free to use this resource.

Truth in the Tinsel

Truth in the Tinsel is an Advent program designed for your children. I did this program last year with Cameron when he was two and a half years old. It went really well, though he did require lots of adult help. I was amazed at how much he picked up from our Bible reading and daily craft. Each day, the child(ren) open a secret word from their advent calendar and then see how that word is used in a Bible story, which is then translated into an ornament. Each day there is a new ornament craft. If a daily craft is too difficult for parents to organize or too advanced for children, there is also an option to print paper ornaments for colouring to correspond with each story. Last year, I think we did nearly every single craft. This year, as I will be doing it with two kids and am no longer on maternity leave, we’ll likely do the craft on the weekends and the colouring on the week days. I can already attest that my three year old loves the crafts this year and is looking forward to making more ornaments to hang on his little tree downstairs.

Truth in the Tinsel can be purchased as an ebook for $7.99 with an additional $3.99 for the ornaments. The price is completely worth it, in my opinion. I bought it last year and am definitely reusing it this year!

#SheReadsTruth

If you are ever in need of a new reason to dive into the Bible, you needn’t look any further than #SheReadsTruth. An online community of women exploring the bible together, this has the perfect mix of easiness and accountability to do a plan on your own. They just started their Advent plan called Emmanuel yesterday, so you can jump right in by checking out their website.

Modern Man of the Cloth

My friend Christopher from the blog Modern Man of the Cloth is attempting to write an Advent blog post geared towards kids every day until Christmas Eve. His wife, Meghan is making a felt Christmas ornament to correspond with each post. It looks like it will be a really great way to pull your kids into the story of Christmas, and as long as you have some felt, glue, and ribbon at home, you can jump in on the crafts too. Here is Day 1 to get you started.

There are so many very wonderful resources out there, but these are some of the few that are close to my heart at the moment. What are some of the ways you prepare for the holidays, spiritually or otherwise?