Mike Smith:
Advent is a time for preparing our hearts to celebrate Christ’s birth—and one of the most meaningful ways to do that is to remind ourselves of the Christmas story. Start by going through your house and collecting any books, CDs, or songbooks that relate to Christmas. Put them together on a shelf or in a big basket. Whenever it’s story time with your little ones, or you’re in the mood for music, reach into the basket for a Christmas theme to your daily routine.
It’s worth setting aside a specific daily or weekly time for the whole family to get together and be reminded of the Christmas story. You could read one or two chapters each week from a Christmas favorite such as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever or A Christmas Carol. If your family likes to gather for a regular movie night, you could watch both old and new Christmas films during the Advent season.
How about branching out a little? Select a particular Scripture passage relating to Christ’s birth that you can memorize as a family, adding one or two verses each week. Songs such as “We Three Kings” and “It Came upon a Midnight Clear” contain detailed retellings of the Christmas story—if you know all the verses!
Through Advent activities like this, you can tell and retell a story that never gets old. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
