Advent Begins today!

An "Advent" is the coming or arrival of something. We had a very neat opportunity tonight with our church family on this first Sunday of Avent. This is definitely starting a new tradition with us. The children's department of the church, which is amazing, put on a night to make Advent Wreaths for our homes. We had pizza, made the wreaths (with little help from Wells), sang some Christmas songs (which the kids loved), and the children's minister gave a brief description of what the candles meant and the importance of starting the Christmas season focused on Christ. It was SO much fun! The kids loved just being around other children, singing, putting in a few twigs, eating (claire), lighting the hope/prophesy candle, and seeing the dark room light up! For those who are not familiar with the candles and their meanings, there are five candles. There are three purple, one pink, and one white. The first candle is a purple candle and it symbolizes hope/prophesy- The promise of Messiah and of His return. The second candle is pink and is the JOY candle- God coming down to dwell with us. The third candle is purple and stands for love- Proclaiming the coming of Christ to all people. The fourth candle is purple and stands for peace-"God is with us", and the fifth candle in the middle is white and stands for the purity of Christ and that when He returns it will be as King and Lord over all. Each Sunday begins the next week of Advent and you light the next candle. The fifth/white candle is lit on Christmas eve. I strongly encourage you to study this further and talk about it with your kids. It can be a time of celebration for the entire family to remember those who longed for the Messiah, to anticipate Christmas Day, and to look forward to Christ's bodily return to earth. It was so exciting for me to focus on this with my family today and I got teary tonight realizing how truly blessed I am. I do not deserve all that I have. My biggest prayer daily is to focus on CHRIST this season and all that He does and has done for me...beginning with His birth. Here are the scripture readings our church suggests for this week if you want to look at(i'll post new ones each week of advent):
sunday/today: Genesis 12:1-3,
Monday: Isaiah 7:10-14
Tuesday: Isaiah 9:2-7, John 14:27
Wednesday: Isaiah 11:1-5, Revelation 5:5
Thursday: Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:14-21
Friday: Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 2:1-7
Saturday: Matthew 24:36-44, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

here are some pics of the night (from the phone unfortunately)
claire is clapping to the music...notice the glasses are gone. another pair down the tubes! off to get new ones tomorrow!

Wells had a blast, but was hard to contain!

Here is the advent wreath. It looks much better
than we thought it would!!

Merry Christmas everyone! The decorations
are up, the gifts are wrapped and under the tree (for now!)
and I only have two to go. I told you I'm enjoying the
Advent/Christmas season!! I pray we all do!

new post below and hopefully a thanksgiving post soon... i know, out of order!