"Eager to help Joseph make his decision about marrying Mary, God chose to reveal His will in a dream...God showed us how Joseph trusted and followed Him so that we can, too."
Each 4-page spread starts with a Christmas-related scripture passage including some of the prophetic Old Testament passages in Isaiah or Samuel. Following the scripture is a brief devotional that draws the spiritual principle into our present time. A simple activity follows; some are crafty, but others are more focused on pondering or apply the spiritual lesson. Next there's an excerpt from a traditional Christmas song, and the section concludes with a suggested prayer.
Although we have our own evening tradition that includes most of those aspects, I could see using this book as a breakfast-time devotion during Advent. It would be a great way to start each day with thoughts of what the season really means. And it would be easy to choose to do just a few of the activities each week so that from year to year the experience would differ a bit. And though it's titled "Our Family Christmas," it would actually be a nice devotional for someone to go through even on their own. From the ribbon bookmark to the beautiful full-color illustrations throughout, this book would be a thoughtful and cherished gift as well as a meaningful addition to your own Christmas library.
I just found another bag of Christmas books I added to my collection after Christmas last year (yes, my bargain-hunting runs through my Advent traditions too!). Looking through my unexplored treasures I found that I have a second copy of Our Family Christmas, and I'd love to share it with someone who would love to have it. (If you don't win the giveaway, but would like your own copy of this book, it's on sale for 2.99 at Christian Book.com.)
To enter the giveaway, you just need to leave me a comment answering the question: What is your favorite family Christmas tradition? Either the family you're raising/part of now, or the family you grew up in.
I'll include comments left until midnight Friday (Pacific Standard Time) and announce the winner on Sunday. Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you in case you win; either a link to your blog (where I can find your contact information) or an email address.
hi! i've been out of the blogging world for awhile, but it was totally worth checking in today! i just love getting a Christmas tree just after thanksgiving. it really gets us in the mood for Christmas and smells so good! and this year we are doing advent together for the first time. we are going through _jothams's journey_ and are loving it. the kids take turns lighting the candles each night, and we always end with a prayer and a Christmas hymn. i think this is my new favorite tradition! so i think it's awesome that you are giving away an advent devotional!
ReplyDelete(kristenborland at gmail dot com.)
I love sharing the Christmas story before we open gifts. Now that we have grandkids, I tell it with incorrect details, and they hold up stop signs and correct me. We laugh a lot and have fun with it. We've been sharing the Christmas story for generations. My father read the Christmas story in German to our large family. Then my husband and I always read it with our kids. Now we continue with our grandkids. Sometimes we also act it out and read it from various children's books.
ReplyDeleteI share more about Christmas traditions on my grandparenting blog (www.PreparingMyHeart.net). Merry Christmas!
Kristen, it's so funny you would post today--just last night I was wandering to blogs I haven't been to in a while (haven't been to any lately!) and yours was one of the ones I went to (I need an invite again). Thanks for stopping by today. I am going to be better about blogging going forward. This month of posting the 25 Stories of Christmas has been a good start to get back into the habit of writing regularly (and actually posting what I've written).
ReplyDeleteLydia, I always love to hear what you're doing with your family. You've always been so intentional with your grandchildren. And I love to hear that even while you're making sure the little ones know the real Christmas story, you all have fun in the process. Thanks for sharing with us.
Blessings to you both,
Mary
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI'm not blogging anymore, and I was struggling with the whole "public" issue anyway. But I didn't want to delete it. So for now I just made it private so I can go back and look at old posts, and if I ever decide to blog again, I'll send out invites. But I am on facebook some. :)