Advent Around Our Kitchen Table

Every year I anticipate its arrival in my mailbox. This weekend, the thing I’ve anxiously been waiting for finally arrived. Our advent calendar and stories! This year, the series is titled “Tales of Christmas Past” and is published in Thriving Family magazine by Focus on the Family. I’ll post the link below so you can download your very own for free today!

Tonight, my family of five will gather around our wooden kitchen table that has been scratched and marked by years of sharing meals, crafts and homework. We will eat some potato soup and when our bellies are full, we will linger just a little longer to hear a Tale of Christmas Past. The children will open their Bibles and take turns reading a few verses from scripture. I will marvel, maybe a little more than they, at the beauty of God’s Word. I will treasure the moments when their eyes get just a little brighter as a new truth from the Christmas story sparks in their heart. It will be wonderful.

And before I become guilty of painting too perfect of a picture, I will tell you that there will also be fighting over who gets to read which Bible verses. There most likely will even be some weeping and gnashing of teeth over who gets to cut out a picture on the advent calendar. There will be some nights we have to miss because of other obligations. But that’s okay. This is real life.

And we will celebrate!

If someone were to ask me how I celebrate being a mom during the Christmas season, this advent activity would be near the top of my list. It is simple and unrushed. It is all about the anticipation of the Messiah's birth. My greatest joy as a mom is that I get to teach my kids about the eternal hope and gift found in Jesus Christ.

Nothing else is more worthy of my time and energy. Nothing.

If my kids have Jesus, they have everything. If they don’t have Jesus, they have nothing. Truly. Do we grasp the significance of that truth?

All the toys and treats…everything…will fade away. But the gift of life through Jesus Christ, that little babe in the manger, will last forever. Truly, there is no greater gift I can give my kids this Christmas.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 6:9).

Mom friend, how does your family make room for Jesus during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season? I’d love to know! Paint me a magical picture with words, and humor me with the weeping-and-gnashing-of-teeth details that make your family as real as mine! Let the Christmas celebrations begin!

As promised, here is the link for the free, downloadable “Tales of Christmas” advent calendar and activities: http://www.thrivingfamily.com/advent

Anna Frye is a speaker, author, television host and founder of the Chosen and Crowned tribe. She invites moms and wives to celebrate imperfect progress fueled by the grace of a perfect God. She helps women bravely talk about the messy places of life, instead of hiding shamefully under them. She believes that lasting beauty comes when women courageously surrender their ashes to God and allow him to do something mind-blowingly amazing with them. If this resonates with you, then you belong with the Chosen and Crowned tribe. Connect at www.ChosenAndCrowned.com/blog