New and old traditions.

Advent - the coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important.

Depending on what you're using, Christmas Advent begins on different days. We began our fun little advent calendar today, December 1st. Our first little thing was opening a present. It was just their Christmas jammies, but they were so excited and happy about it. :)

We began our Jesse tree 2 nights ago. This is only our 2nd year to do the Jesse tree but it is already my favorite tradition. On day 1 as I read to the boys about Advent and the anticipation of baby Jesus, I got a little choked up. Who am I kidding...I got really choked up. And once again, I had a repeat conversation with Holden about crying and happy tears. You've heard all of this before. And then I think I may have started talking to them like they were 8 instead of 3 and 4. I just want their young hearts to feel the impact of Christmas. Yes, they understand that we are celebrating Christ's birth. And because they are still young, they don't equate Christmas to the overload of gifts they will receive from everyone. I'm not even discussing that topic with them because I'm not really wanting them to think about it right now. They'll just be surprised once it all hits. But the Jesse Tree is such a special journey to Christ. I learned so much last year and I'm loving it now. Especially the first few days as we walk through Genesis, the book we've been thoroughly studying in BSF. I definitely recommend checking out the Jesse Tree if you haven't already. I have some great info that I don't mind emailing to anyone. Just a post a comment and I'll send it your way.

And a new tradition this year...Well, I've mention that 3/4 of this household are bookworms. I counted the children's Christmas books we've collected in 4 years and the total came to 12. I know, I know. I think I may have a sickness. But that was a good enough reason for me to steal an idea I had read about recently. Each night in December leading up to Christmas Day, the boys will take turns choosing a wrapped book from the basket. That boy will open the book. Then as a family, we'll cuddle under the Christmas blanket and have one extra bedtime story before they head upstairs to bed. It's a good mix of Jesus books and others like Mickey Mouse and Amelia Bedelia. I just thought it would be a fun family memory to start now. So I've collected another 12 books to add to my stash and we started this new little tradition tonight.

It's the perfect time to celebrate Jesus and reflect even more on the Gospel. And it's such a great time to create fun family traditions that our children will remember forever. Having my own little ones has definitely caused me to rethink (more than once) everything I've known about this holiday. But I do know it's a great cause for celebration and worship. And that is something that I know we can do.