How to Make Advent Special
Advent is the waiting period in the church calendar when the church remembers the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word "advent" is derived from Latin and literally means "the coming of the Savior." The four weeks before Christmas comprise Advent.
There are a variety of ways that Advent is celebrated within the church. Since it is a period of anticipation most of the activities involve a progression of sorts to make us attentive to the waiting that we're doing and its importance instead of just focusing on the one-day holiday of Christmas.
In church services during Advent, there is an Advent wreath comprised of four candles. One candle is lit each Sunday in the Advent season. They represent hope, peace, love, and joy, respectively. Sometimes there is a fifth candle, which is lit on Christmas Eve to represent the birth of Jesus. Typically there are three blue or purple candles, which are candles 1-3, and one pink or lighter shade of a bright color, which serves as the 4th candle. If there is a fifth, it may be white or gold. The circular wreath itself represents eternity. People also use Advent wreaths in their homes.
Advent calendars are a great way to have a "countdown," so to speak, for Christmas. Usually they are meant to help children become active in the celebration and waiting while helping them understand the significance of the time before Christmas instead of just focusing on one day. Tabs or some sort of cover over the day invite children to actively participate in the season—each day a tab is pulled back to reveal a passage or meditation, and sometimes a piece of candy or small trinket. The calendars are especially good to use with children because of the excitement involved with opening up a new day's tab, one step closer to the big celebration.
Make Your Own:
Advent Wreath
Advent wreaths are simple enough to create in your home. If you have candles and holders that stand on their own, arrange them in a circle. Put a piece of cloth shaped like a circle underneath—representing eternity and protecting your table at the same time!—and use ribbon, artificial pine, or even more cloth to build the wreath around your candles. Be sure to keep anything flammable safely away from the flames when your candles are lit.
Maybe you don't have colored candles. Okay, for smaller candles perhaps use a small colored votive cup; for taller ones tie colored string or ribbon around the candlestick (making sure to scoot it down as the candle burns lower). A little creativity goes a long way in putting together a truly original Advent wreath. Just because it's a Christian tradition doesn't mean it has to look traditional! Have fun with it—it's going to be around for four weeks and it's a great time to have something beautiful spark your season's meditation.
Advent Calendar
Check your church to see if they have any Advent calendars for Sunday School children, if this is something you'd like to try. If not, and you don't want to hunt for one to purchase, make your own. Making your own Advent calendars requires a certain amount of creativity.
The Gospels all contain different accounts of the Christmas story. If you'd like to use specific verses from the Bible, try Matthew 1:18-24 and 2:1-12 as well as Luke 1:26-38 and 2:1-20. Have children help you tell the story while you help them understand the importance of the passages each night.
If that seems like too much work or isn't your thing, try making the focus of your Advent calendar the Christian virtues—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Make everyday of the season a meditation on these virtues. Have the children participate in sharing ways they can incorporate virtues into their lives at school and home.
Karissa J. Kilgore loves to write and has a passion for the Oxford comma. She has her BA in English, and hopes to teach writing one day. Karissa lives in Pennsylvania with her dog Trixie.
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