coolest advent ever

Joy to the world! That is what our amazing Creator God brought over 2,000 years ago. He loves us so much that He sent His son to the world in the most humble way possible, as a baby in a manger.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

This is the miracle of Christmas. We want every person in the world to know God's great love story!

This month i will be sharing fun traditions our little family has. We want to teach our children the miricale of Christmas. So i have been busy on an idea God gave me a couple of years ago and I am pretty sure we have the coolest Christmas Advent ever.... it makes me giddy just thinking about it. I love celebrating God!!!

The calendar I made out of material so we could easily roll it up for storage and take it around the world..in case one day we are spending Christmas somewhere else in the world. I am all about being mobile! P.S. The world is made of a goat hair blanket from the Balkar people of Southern Russia. And I used burlap for the pockets... i think it just a real humble material.

Every night this month as family we go and light the candles on our advent log (Thanks to Carson Kistner for this idea). We light the number of candles for the day it is (Dec 6th -6 candles)... so at the end all will be lit. Leave a note with your email if you want to know how to make yourself one - pretty easy.

Then we go to our Advent calendar and look in the days pocket to find all kinds of goodies...There is an ornament that has a Bible passage on it that the boys hang on the tree and then one of us read the story. Each story helps us to understand the purpose of Christ coming and leads up to the Christmas story and who Jesus is. (list of what we are reading is below)

There is also an ornament nations doll that represents one of the least reached people groups in the world with a little card explaining how to pray for them. We read about the people group and pray for them. Their little hands clip together so they can eventually make a garland. I like garlands....especially little people group ones. Isn't my little Chamba cute?

Sometimes there is candy and pieces to their nativity that they add too as we tell the story. Baby Jesus is in the last one.. :)

Below is our reading list. If you want me to make you the ornaments or an Advent calendar of your own with little nation dolls... i am taking orders ...for next year that is..(this thing took forever to do) and all the proceeds will go to our adoption.

This is just one of the fun things we are doing this month as a family... and tonight I am taking my Nepali friends to their first American Christmas Parade... don't worry i warned them... long johns are a must!! Maybe we will see you there!

Advent Scriptures (NLT version of the bible is great for reading to kids, though any will do)

Jesus was God’s plan from the very beginning

1. God’s plan was Jesus! -Romans 5:6-21

2. John the Baptist recognizes God’s plan. – John 3:27-36

3. Praise God for His great plan of Jesus! – Ephesians 1:3-14

4. God’s plan for Christ from the very beginning. – Colossians 1:15-22

5. How should we respond to God’s plan? – John 1:1-18

6. Believe that Jesus is God’s son! – 1 John 5:1-13

God showed men that Christ would come over 600 years before He was born

7. Jesus was born for us! - Isaiah 9:1-7 (Matthew 4:12-17)

8. The Hope of Jesus make the desert grow grass! – Isaiah 35

9. They knew that Jesus would come! - Isaiah 40:1-11

10. Out of Bethlehem will come a ruler! – Micah 5:1-5 (Matthew 2:1-6)

11. He will be born to a virgin. Isaiah 7:10-14 (Matthew 1:21-25)

12. The prophets marveled at what they couldn’t see. – 1 Peter 1:3-12

God revealed to many that Christ was His son

13. God revealed Jesus to Zechariah. – Luke 1:5-25,37-80

14. God revealed Jesus to Elizabeth. – Luke 1:39-45

15. God revealed Jesus to Mary. - Luke 1:26-56

16. God revealed Jesus to the Shepherds. – Luke 2:8-20

17. God revealed Jesus to Simeon and Anna. – Luke 2:21-40

18. God revealed Jesus to the Wise Men. – Matthew 2:1-15

God’s purpose in Jesus coming

19. He came to give us freedom! - Galatians 5:1-15

20. He came because we failed to be good. – Galatians 4:1-7

21. He came to be the new covenant. – Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 10:1-18

22. He came to bring us near to God. – Ephesians 2:11-22

23. He came so that we can know God. – John 14:1-7

24. He came so that the world can know God. – Isaiah 52:7-10, Matthew 4:23-25,

John 3:16

25. JESUS IS BORN! Matthew 2:18-25, Luke 2:1-7