Saturday, November 24, 2012

i'm starting this next week

hey peeps. i had written a thanksgiving post last week and was about to post it when my kid threw up everywhere and i had to take a brief break from writing. ;) eh, life happens.

last week, my internet wasn't working to watch my daily ration of hulu tv... so i got productive and started thinking about advent. --yep. super holy things happen when hulu doesn't work apparently.

i thought i'd share what we'll be doing for advent this year. in the past we haven't really done anything for it, but i had read several blogs on the topic and have been trying to figure out how to actively let God have His rightful place in this upcoming holiday. and 25 days of advent readings kinda freaks me out because if i get behind, i sometimes give up. and we sometimes travel during the holidays which makes it hard to stay on task. so...i thought maybe we could do something each week leading up to Christmas. that's not overwhelming. that's doable. so... here's what i came up with. it kinda looks like this: read, pray, go. each week we will read a Scripture while we light the candle on our advent wreath, pray for something together as a family, and go do something related to that week's theme for someone around us. advent is a season of anticipation and i am so eager to have our family focus on the meaning of the season and not on one day of getting gifts. so here we go:


Advent: "coming" or "arrival"
week 1: hope
read: isaiah 9:2, 4-6
pray: thank God for the hope that comes from Jesus, and pray for those that do not know Him, that they would receive Him as their hope and their salvation
go: take food to our local food pantry to offer hope to those who are struggling

week 2: peace
read: isaiah 9:6; romans 5:1-2
pray: thank God for the peace He gives us and pray for our family: immediate, extended, and church, that Christ would help us be a family that promotes peace and humility over entitlement and selfishness
go: do a random act of kindness for someone who lives in our home to promote peace

week 3: love
read: luke 1:26-38; john 3:16
pray: thank God that nothing is impossible with Him and that He loves us so much to send His Son even though we do not deserve His love, pray that He would use us in a mighty way to accomplish His purposes, and that we would carry His love to others through sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ
go: put together a care package for a missionary friend and send it to share love with them and encourage them in the work they do for God's purposes

week 4: joy
read: matthew 1:18-25
pray: thank God for how He saves us from our sins, how He sent His Son to be with us, our Immanuel. ask Him to make us more aware of how we need Him daily, and to rely more fully on Him
go: make cards for our local retirement home residents and deliver them to hopefully bring joy to others

Christmas Eve:
read: luke 2:1-20

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