With Christmas Day falling on a Saturday this year, the first Sunday of Advent is on Nov. 28, only 11 days away.
Do you have a plan to make your advent season meaningful and memorable?
During advent we light candles each week in preparation for Christmas.
There are other things you can do as a family or individual through advent to prepare your heart for Christmas
When my kids were small (and not so small) I would purchase chocolate advent calendars for them.
We started with the cheap ones and then upgraded to Lindor Chocolate calendars.
One year I bought a lego advent calendar that made a neat little Christmas scene.
But…
Maybe Advent doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Advent, perhaps, means a little bit more.
We also followed different activity advent calendars throughout the years
I remember one where we added money to a jar and each day we had to count the number of an item we had and then put in a certain value for each. It was meant to highlight how blessed we were compared to others that are homeless or struggling financially. At the end of Advent we would then donate the money to the Food Bank or another organization.
Note: this is from the early 2000’s. You might want to modify it to include cell phones, tablets, video games or screen time. The amounts could be increased but if each person individually has to count how many pairs of socks they own, it does add up.
Adding a food item to a box each day and then taking it to the food bank at the end could be your advent calendar.
Sometimes schools have challenges between classrooms to see who can bring in the most food. The food is then often donated to the food bank.
At some schools specific items were collected to make Christmas dinner boxes up for the struggling families at that school or in the parish.
There are other things you could collect through a school or organization during advent besides food.
January 27, 2022 is Family Literacy Day in Canada. Why not ask families to donate used books and then either have a book sale for a specific charity or let every student take at least one book home on that day??
January and February can be bitterly cold in Canada. New or gently used mittens, hats, jackets or snowpants could be collected. It could be a “bring an item, take an item” event or items could be donated to a shelter to allow those that need them to have access to them.
There was no Pinterest when my kids were small. I went on Pinterest to see what ideas were out there for different Advent activities that perhaps I would enjoy as an adult. Here are some ideas of things you can do as a family or individual.
This is a simple Advent calendar that offers you the chance to reflect on the word of God.
This advent calendar celebrates Jesus through his many names.
There are 28 readings that will carry you right from the first Sunday of Advent all the way thru to Christmas Day
On this website there are more resources related to the theme.
This advent set can be purchased finished or unfinished.
There is a bible verse to go with each ornament, a devotional guide and you can go to the website to access more resources.
I would like to try to make a set for myself.
Advent doesn’t have to just be about opening a window on an Advent calendar and eating the chocolate.
It can be enhanced with one, all, or a mixture of the ideas above.
👍❤️