Advent means the arrival; it is the time before Christmas that leads to when we receive the most important gift, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day.
Our society loves data. We love to quantify almost everything, including countdowns to certain events. Each and every one of us who has a cellphone has a hand-held calendar. My family has calendars, upon calendars. I love my digital calendar on my phone, which alerts me to activities, events, and things I need to remember, which happens daily. I also love my paper planner that I have on my desk. I love being able to write deadlines down and look at the upcoming months when planning events for St. Luke’s. Our children at school are taught basic data tracking in preschool and kindergarten. They learn the days of the week, followed by the months of the year. They are taught to plan for assignments, upcoming activities, and holiday breaks.
In Christian life, we have a few large events we count down to each year. Christmas is one of the biggest celebrations of the year. We celebrate the birth of our Savior. We have an entire month that is devoted to preparing for the ultimate birthday party of the year.
One of the easiest ways for kids to count down to the arrival of Christ is with an Advent Calendar or a paper chain. When I was growing up, we didn’t have all the fancy Advent calendars we have now. If you search Advent Calendar on Google, a plethora of Advent Calendars pop up. Any kind you can think of. Some are for kids, some are marketed for families, and some are strictly just for adults. These Advent Calendars may include small gifts; some include small books, and some include getting to build a small Lego creation each day. The variety of calendars is so interesting and intriguing, but they all have one thing in common. They each provide a tangible way to count down to Jesus Christ’s birth.
I really enjoy making an Advent paper chain and try to include this craft during our annual Advent Festival at the Edmond Campus to kick off the Advent season. It is enjoyable to have an active visual of your paper chain or Advent calendar and see how each day, we are closer to celebrating the King of Kings’ birth.
The month of December always has so many events, activities and to-do lists that we all try to complete and attend in a timely manner. Take time each day in December to remember why we have all these celebrations and activities that we tend to get overwhelmed by. Jesus will be born. This sweet, innocent babe is the reason for the season.
Jocelyn Morgan, Director of Children’s Ministry Edmond Campus
