Advent

"Advent means coming..."

And thus starts the most important of our Christmas traditions.--Advent, in which we do a bible study every day starting the four Sundays before Christmas (this year that was the 29th of November). Our family would willing give up all the other traditions of movie watching, tree decorating, and cooking baking if we had to keep only one tradition and the one we would keep is that of reading the advent books every day of the Christmas season.

Each day we light a candle that symbolizes something to do with the birth of Christ. With us lighting a candle each day and adding a new candle each Sunday. The First candle is the "Prophecy Candle", and that week we spend reading from the Old Testament, and the prophecies of Christ's birth. The candle we light is the "Bethlehem Candle", the third week is the "Shepherds' Candle", on the Sunday before Christmas we light the "Angel Candle", the one that everyone loves lighting is the one on Christmas day--:The Christ Candle".

As the days pass dad reads to us from four books. The first book he reads--"Family Activities for the Christmas Season" is a book that he has been reading to us for years. As in Chris, Grace, Sara and I can tell you what story dad is going to be reading, after the first three words. It's a great book telling about the different Christmas traditions in different cultures.

The fourth book is one that we have had for a long time as well--"Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration", each day a different passage is read from the bible starting in Genesis--the creation and fall of man, going through the prophecies, to Jesus' birth and working through the shepherds and magi's visits.

The third book that dad reads to us is my personal favorite--"Handel's Messiah Family Advent Reader". Each day you start the chapter with a verse that has a part in the Messiah, followed by a short story, from Christmas tree traditions, to World War one truces, stories about people who raise Reindeers, with a carol quiz, and things that keep you thinking year round about why Christ came to earth. We end this chapter each day by listening to the part of the Messiah that corresponds with the bible verse we read to start off the chapter. It is a very interesting book that we have greatly enjoyed for 9 years now.

And the 4th book that dad reads to us is one that he added this year--"Christmas in Texas", we have read very little of this book so far, but from what we have read it is very interesting. Well, for our family it is at least. :D It is chalked full of Texas history and how Texans have celebrated Christmas starting in the late 1700's and going to modern day, With crafts, foods, and other things that Texas have done to celebrate the Christmas season.