Please share an Advent family tradition or memory that you do now or perhaps did when you were growing up:

Advent is filled with anticipation. We prepare our homes with decorations of Christmas, we listen to holiday music to get us in the spirit if the season, we bake our favorite holiday goodies to share, and we shop for gifts for our loved ones. Anticipation of something exciting is sometimes the best part of life.

One of my fond memories of Advent when I was a young girl, was unpacking the Nativity scene. My grandmother had made our ceramic Nativity. It was all white, which made it seem even more precious. Each figurine was wrapped in newspaper, and my mother would let me carefully take each piece out of the box, unwrap it, and arrange it on the shelf. It was like putting a puzzle together, not knowing who I was going to unwrap next, but getting so excited when it all came together. Baby Jesus was the most exciting figurine to unwrap and I knew as a young girl that he was the most important piece of my Nativity puzzle. It was only complete when he was present. My husband and I have been married for about a year and half now, and we are filled with anticipation of the birth of our first child. We will be starting our own family traditions, and I hope that we will be able to make each Advent an exciting time for our children too.

Share your favorite Advent hymn and why it speaks to you

My favorite Advent hymn is “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying.” I don’t recall singing this hymn growing up, but when I was a freshman at Augustana College, we sang it at Christmas Vespers, and I have enjoyed it ever since.

Advent Scripture

“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”’” –Mark 1:1–3

Advent Prayer

Dear Lord, Please be with us as we prepare for Christmas. Let us feel great anticipation of Jesus’ birth and let the excitement of this season be shared those around us. Amen

Liz and Doug Lynch

Please share an Advent family tradition or memory that you do now or perhaps did when you were growing up:

Growing up, Advent was the beginning of the countdown to Christmas! It meant it was finally close, it was almost here. Sure we would look forward to presents, but most importantly for me … it was counting down to a gathering of the family. A chance to get to see my cousins and hours of racing our sleds and Pictionary-based family rumbles. As a kid, it was well reinforced how important Advent was. Whether pot roast or mac and cheese, no other time of the year would we eat these meals by candlelight. On top of that, mom would never let us pop semi-sweet chocolate chunks out of a cardboard container 25 nights in a row right before bed!

Share your favorite Advent hymn and why it speaks to you

I didn’t know there were specifically Advent songs. I probably should pay better attention to what I am singing in church!

Advent Scripture

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” –Galatians 4:4–5 (NIV)

Adam & Heather Smith, Reed and Annika

Please share an Advent family tradition or memory that you do now or perhaps did when you were growing up:

Growing up we never really had any traditions specific to Advent, but Christmas was a very important part of growing up and we did have many Christmas traditions. After Thanksgiving we would always go as a family and choose a Christmas tree or go to cut one down. As a family we would all decorate the tree. We each had our own ornaments that were given to us over the years, including our “baby’s first Christmas” ornament. Each time we decorated we would talk about memories of past Christmases. It was the official start of the Advent season for us. We would also help decorate the house, including the beloved Nativity, of which we had several. We still get together as an extended family for Christmas Eve dinner at my grandparent’s house and then we attend the candlelight service together. This has always been a special time for me.

Share your favorite Advent hymn and why it speaks to you

My favorite hymn, “Silent Night,” is related to the candlelight service. I think it is amazing to hear everyone singing it in unison. I enjoy hearing the German version, “Stille Nacht.” It is an important reminder that no matter where we come from or what our heritage is, we are all one in Christ!

An example of this is in the lighting of the candles. The lighting begins from one candle, then is shared with each usher and then before long every candle is lit in the congregation. This is true with Christ, he is the one true light, but we are each supposed to be a light for Him in the world.

Advent Scripture

My favorite Advent scripture is Luke 1:26–33. I just love the mystery of how Jesus was conceived. I feel like it parallels how he is present in our lives, sometimes we may feel like he is not with us, but he is always by our side. He is omnipresent!

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’” –Luke 1:26–33

Advent Prayer

Lord God, thank you for the GIFT of your son. May we not lose sight of him during the hustle and the bustle of the Christmas holiday. Jesus is the true GIFT of Christmas. Help us to look with anticipation towards his birth. Thank you for everything that you provide for us. Amen.

Eric Sather

Please share an Advent family tradition or memory that you do now or perhaps did when you were growing up:

One of my early memories growing up during the Christmas season was when my mom, usually sometime shortly after Thanksgiving, would get all the Christmas decorations out and begin to decorate our home. For my sister and I, the highlight of those decorations was the unpacking and the setting up of the Nativity scene. I’m not sure what it was, maybe in my early years it was simply a fascination with figurines. But as I got older and spent time looking at the various central figures of that remarkable evening, I couldn’t help but have a powerful connection to Christ’s birth. Whether it be the wise men on bended knee, Mary looking peacefully over her new son or Jesus himself, I find the whole scene both remarkable yet peaceful. For me, it best illustrates what ”peace on Earth good will to men” should represent.

I’m grateful that today, the tradition of setting up the Nativity has carried through to our daughters. Just last week my daughter, Chloe, requested that we set up our Nativity scene. Taking her time, she carefully unwrapped each porcelain figure, looking and inspecting each one as she set them into place. Watching her, you could see the universal connection with Christ that the Nativity scene so aptly provides.

Share your favorite Advent hymn and why it speaks to you

“Angels We Have Heard On High,” because one can almost see the angels, with their power and grace, announcing Christ’s birth.

Advent Scripture

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’” –Luke 2:13–14

Advent Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending us your Son. Like the angels, help us to joyfully and enthusiastically announce your name. Amen.

Amber & Aaron Ellingsen, Isabella and Chloe

Please share an Advent family tradition or memory that you do now or perhaps did when you were growing up:

A few weeks ago, our family received a request from Marnie to write a family devotional for Advent. While I wanted to help, I really didn’t have the time to write one, much less gather our family together to do it jointly. So, the unanswered e-mail worked its way to the bottom of the list of e-mails.

A few weeks later, a second request arrived. Still no time.

The next week, our 15-year-old son came home from youth group, handed me a written request for a family devotional and proudly reported, “I told Erik we would do one.”

You what?!

During the next few days, a wonderful thing happened. I began to hear a devotional unfold in my head. And as it did, I realized that the real reason I wasn’t writing the devotional was because our attempts at Advent family traditions were often painful failures.

For example, when our children were too young to sit still and listen to our Advent readings, we decided to let them light the candle to make it special. After a couple of frustrating weeks of one boy lighting the candle, the other boy blowing it out so then he could relight the candle, and so on, we gave up. The focus was on playing with the candle.

The next year, we tried an Advent calendar with tiny little boxes ... another failure that put the focus on receiving tiny little gifts.

However, one tradition that began as a gift years ago has truly been meaningful. It is a wooden Nativity Advent calendar. Every year, the boys take turns putting wooden pieces on the scene, until finally Baby Jesus is laid in the manger. The pieces tell the story of Advent, with the last piece focusing on Christ.

This tradition is replayed at First Lutheran every year during Christmas Eve, when the liturgical dancers re-enact the night of Jesus’ birth. The dance builds to the moment when the angel gracefully places Baby Jesus into the Virgin Mary’s arms, gently and lovingly. My eyes fill with tears as my heart fills with Christ’s love.

Christ has a way of sharpening our focus.

Be it creating family traditions or agreeing to write a devotional, our attempts at doing the right thing often “kill us” and end in failure. Yet, as Paul tells us in Galatians, if we put our faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit will put pleasure and love in our hearts for completing even the most difficult tasks.

Therefore, we can rejoice in Christ during Advent, and always. This is our hope and prayer for your family, too ...

Advent Scripture

“To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” –Luke 2:11

Ginny & Tom Christopherson, Nick and Peter