Hey Reader!

One Christmas when my husband was working 12 hour days, I wanted some way to make Christmas feel special even though we didn’t have a lot of money and I couldn’t buy a lot of gifts.

Between every tree lighting I could find and the Advent project our church did, I felt like I was able to piece together something that became magical for our kids.

While we had an Advent wreath and a reading list from our church, what I found really made it special was creating a time where we could come together with our faces lit by the light of each week’s Advent candle, waiting with anticipation as each child tried to contain his excitement to blow out one of the candles.

In fact, they loved this moment each night around the dinner table so much, that when I would forget, harried by Christmas lists in my head and my own tired desire to zone out and ignore my kids, they would snap me out of Facebook scrolling-land with their incessant begging to light the candles and do our readings.

Call me shocked when I realized it was my own desire to escape the children's noise that was holding us back.

How could I be the stumbling block in my own kids’ way when I was also the one who wanted this so badly for them?

In looking for the perfect solution I had been the one getting in the way.

But they would snap me out of my own way and say, "Mommy, let's light the candles. When are we going to light the candles?"

And, no matter how much of the way we got through the Bible reading that night, when we blew out the candles, I would tell the kids to stop and take a moment of silence.

And during that moment of silence, I would take in the deepest breath, and inhale the smell of the burning sulphur of the light just extinguished, and I would feel peace in my soul for that one moment, because the next second it was loud chaos again.

But in that moment, I knew that I was doing one of the greatest things I could be doing with my kids (I say, with tears welling up in my eyes and in a crack in my voice): I was sharing Jesus with them and showing them how much he loves them and how much I love them.

So this year, let your kids be the ones to beg and drive you to create those memories that are fun for them, but which you know will set them up with faith that has the power to transform the way they feel about themselves.

Don't get in the way of letting your kids help create your own family's special moments.

Take the first step today, grab your 2024 Easy Advent Bible Time | Family Advent Devotional and take the guess work out of how to create those special memories.

Be blessed!

Keeley

P.S. Time is running out to get your pre-Advent discount (over 60% off) and be prepared for making some special holiday memories with your kids with your own Easy Advent Bible Time | Family Advent Devotional. You'll be so thankful you got it and your kids will love doing it and will ask to do it again each year!

P.P.S. The Black Friday sale was so popular, I decided to extend it through this Sunday night at midnight PST!!! Grab your Keeping Your Kids on God's Side Toolkit now!

P.P.S. Check out my Advent for Kids Unwrapped: Clearing Up 3 Common Misbeliefs about Advent blog post if you haven't already.

Verse of the Week

"The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep." - Matthew 25:5 (NIV)

The first Advent reading tomorrow focuses on Christ's return. This verse is from that passage and is a sobering wake-up call (to me at least!) that we cannot be complacent in our faith and hope that Sunday School is enough for our kids.

We must be diligent and prepare ourselves and our children for Christ's return. How will you point your child to Christ this holiday season? Be intentional.

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