Advent for Kids: December 7 – Jesus Will Come Again

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

The Bible tells us Jesus will come back to earth someday, so now we get to anticipation Jesus’ return. Sometimes it’s hard to wait, but Jesus is our source of strength and peace while we wait. He gives us what we need to remain confident that He will come

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”    Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. ² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”           Romans 5:1-2 (NLT)

The Prophecy Candle reminds us that Jesus came into the world because God always keeps his promises. We can expect Jesus to come back to earth someday just like the God says he will in the Bible.

What things do we do while we wait for Jesus to return?

Advent for Kids: December 6- The Messenger

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

God had the prophets tell people another detail about the birth of Jesus. He explained how John the Baptist would prepare the way for Jesus. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!”           Isaiah 40:3

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.            Malachi 3:1

Do we ever prepare for someone’s arrival? What do we do?

Advent for Kids: December 5- When will Jesus be born?

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

Did you know that the prophets Daniel and Isaiah were also able to tell people when Jesus would be born? How did they know? That’s right, because God told them. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler - the Anointed One - comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times.     Daniel 9:25

… She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.   Isaiah 7:14-16

Do you know what will happen tomorrow? (No) Neither do I!! That’s why prophesy is so amazing! It’s telling the future and only God knows about that.

(Optional: make funny predictions about the future)

Advent for Kids: December 4- How will Jesus be born?

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

The prophets told the people several interesting details about Jesus' birth and then it happened just like God said! They said Jesus would born of a virgin and that the 3 kings would come visit. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands will bring him tribute. The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him gifts.            Psalms 72:10

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin^[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).       Isaiah 7:14

It’s fun to look through your baby pictures and hear details about how you were born, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be amazing if someone was able to tell you all about it before it happened and then it happened exactly that way?

(Optional: get out their baby pictures and tell them the story of their own birth)

Advent for Kids: December 3- Who Will Jesus be?

Which candle are we lighting this week? Yes, the Prophesy candle. What does it symbolize? Right, hope! What helped the people in the bible to have hope? Yes, the prophesies.  Do you remember what a prophesy is? Yes, an announcement about the future.

The prophets also gave the people some information about who Jesus’ great great great great great… grandparents would be!  God told the prophets Isaiah and David that Jesus would be of the line of King David and David’s father Jesse.  That meant his many-times-great-grandfathers would be David and Jesse. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.                 Isaiah 11:1-3

“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name:  The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety                    Jeremiah 23:5-6

Knowing all these details about who Jesus would be made the people excited about Jesus’ birth!

Do you like hearing stories about your great great grandparents? Wouldn’t it be cool to hear about your great great grandson?

(Optional: tell a few stories about your ancestors)

Advent for Kids: December 2- Where Will Jesus Be Born?

Which candle are we lighting this week? That’s right, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope the prophesies gave the people

Let’s read more prophesies about Jesus. The prophet Micah told the people what God had told him: that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Let’s read that prophesy in the bible:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past.             Micah 5:2-3

Knowing details about Jesus’ birth made it seem real and made it easier for the people to keep anticipating his birth.

Does knowing details about what we plan on doing for Christmas make it more real to you? Do you like to know our Christmas plans?

(Optional: Talk about your plans for Christmas travel or Christmas day this year)

Advent for Kids: December 1- Anticipation

Week 1- The Prophesy Candle

This is the first day of Advent. This week, each night, light the Prophecy Candle.

December 1- Anticipation

It’s the first week of Advent so we light the first candle. It’s called the Prophesy candle. A Prophesy is an announcement about the future.

There are many prophesies about Jesus in the Bible. Did you know that Jesus is mentioned or alluded to in every book of the Bible? This week, we will be reading some of the amazing prophecies about Jesus. The prophesies allowed the Jewish people to anticipate and hope for Jesus’ arrival even more than we anticipate Christmas! Here are some examples of their anticipation:

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!             Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!             Isaiah 40:3 (NLT)

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.                  Psalm 62:5-6 (NLT)

Isn’t it great to know when something wonderful it going to happen? We like to think about good things that will happen. What good thing are you looking forward to?

Advent Calendar Introduction

I've been creating an advent book for my own young kids and thought I might as well post it here. Maybe it will be helpful to you! Let me know if/how you're using it!

Advent Calendar Introduction

The word "Advent" means "arrival" or "coming" and symbolizes the approach of Christ's birth (and fulfillment of the prophecies about that event) and the awaiting of Christ's second coming.

In advent we get to light candles. Candles remind us that Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of Life.” (John 8:12)

There are 5 candles:

1. Prophesy candle symbolizing hope
2. Bethlehem candle symbolizing humility and preparation
3. Shepherds candle symbolizing joy
4. Angels candle symbolizing peace
5. Christ’s candle symbolizing love

Advent

I never did any kind of advent growing up so the idea is a little new to me. I like it, but without any real traditions to fall back on I've really been making it up as I go:

First, I impulsively bought this adorable 25 boxes advent calendar a few years ago on clearance. I really don't want to put candy or any other kind of gift in it (the kids get enough of that stuff as it is) so I've been looking for a nativity sceen set to go in it ever since. I've been using a make-do one for the last two years but it's mismatched weird. I've been thinking about trying to make something or paint pieces or something!

Second, We had an advent wreath the last two years because our church offered great kits for a suggested donation, but I never kept the cheap foam ring base because it was already disintegrating after a month. So now I'm trying to scrounge around my house and make something into a wreath. Fortunately I kept the candles and I've got a lot of other junk around here.

Third, we've been using a little homemade pamphlet our church handed out in 2009 for a daily devotional to go with advent. Even at 2 years old, NJ understood that he had to sit through it before he was allowed to see what surprise awaited him behind the cute numbered door on the advent calendar. However, the material was way over his head and even now at 4 years old, he's not getting it.  So I've been working on a little advent book with daily devotionals he might understand.

How about you? Help me out here!! What are your advent traditions?

Christmas Layouts

Each year I try to add two more years to my Christmas album- the current year and the next oldest year. So this year, during the Christmas season I worked on 2001 (shown at right here- click to enlarge). I used some of the new Martha Stewart paper my sister got me for Christmas.

Now I'm working on 2009. At first, I wanted to keep it to one spread (two facing pages) per year, but as we all get crazier with our digital cameras I find myself having a harder and harder time keeping each year down to one spread. In fact, I think 2008 has 3 spreads plus 2 more spreads of all the photo cards people have sent! So my new goal for 2009 is to limit myself to two spreads plus 1 spread with all the photo cards.

It seems like each year more people switch from a traditional card to a photo card. I love the photo cards- for many of our friends, it's the only printed picture we have of them for the whole year, so I'm determined to keep them. However, I don't really want to end up with more than half my album being a collection of photo cards. So, when a friend showed me Ali Edwards' solution, I was in love! Of course, I had to add some white space to be happy and I couldn't quite stand to cut off people's faces, so here's what mine turned out like this year!

Here's some previous year's Christmas spreads in case you're interested!
2006
2007
2008a 2008b

(click to enlarge photo)

Journaling, Cut in Half

I know I posted almost the same pic yesterday, but since I got the journaling done, I had to post an update. I really wanted the journaling to run right off the first page and onto the next page like a photo cut in half, but I didn't want to cut any words in half, so I did a crazy amount of work with two text boxes (as shown in this screen shot) and some extra spaces where needed. I really love how it turned out! (Click on the photo to zoom in) Surely one of you wants to share an easier way to do this- I tried right and left tabs, but apparently, I don't know how to make those work either.

32 Photos in 2 Spreads? No Problem

Christmas 2008 is done! ...except for a little journaling, of course.

Christmas 2006

If completing one scrapbook spread makes you feel good, does completing a double spread make you feel double good? Why, yes! Yes it does!

Yay! 2006 is done! Ok, so I still haven't journaled, but since the hubby doesn't like the journaling to show up on a blog, I figure I'll just add it later. Perhaps some of you family members would like to email me some of your Christmas memories for inspiration???? Not just from 2006- any year. I plan on going a ways back!

The Pictures of Christmas' Past

Seems like each year at Christmas, when all the family is together, we end up chatting about all the Christmas' past and all the good times we've had. This last Christmas (2008) I started thinking how cool it would be to have a whole photo album of all Christmas. I printed some pics and bought some paper, but wouldn't let myself start until NJ's baby book was done. Then it seemed like things just kept getting in the way. Well, I finally started the Christmas album and thanks to Rachel's new Cricut machine, I think it turned out super-cool:

Alchemy

I've just discovered Alchemy! It's a piece of Etsy where people can out in requests for what they're looking for. So, for example, maybe you really want a blue hand knit scarf and can't find one just the right length. You just go put out a request for one and VIOLA! you find a knitter who'd love to make one for you, for a price of course. Or, maybe you, like this guy want a custom calendar made that you can print off your computer at home. You just put in a request and someone like me, who has made herself several calendars over the years is happy to fix one up just how you want it! How exciting!!! Too bad I was a little too late to bid on that one...

Anyway, I always buy one new Christmas ornament each year. This year, well, last year, well, for Christmas 2008, I decided I wanted a camping theme. This was the year we bought our camper and the year my hubby killed his first elk, and the year that NJ got to go on his first camping trip. So I created a request and got all sorts of great bids. The one I chose was a girl who makes cute little felt things. She was wonderful enough to really work with me on getting the elk just right and choosing a fun pine tree for NJ. How very exciting!!! In case you're hungry for more, this is who I chose to make the ornaments: metzypants

And, in case you're curious about my stuff, this is my etsy shop: Arizona Made