Monday, December 3, 2012

Exploring Advent and Christmas


Hope your First Advent was peaceful and joyous!




Our family tradition is to have coffee and cake together on each Advent Sunday. As we enjoy the goodies, we talk about the meaning of each Advent Sunday and pray together. 

Since we talked about remembering the prophets on First Advent in Advent Club this week, I decided to try Cheryl's Isaiah 9:2 meditation that she posted on the link-up last week. Before we lit the candle, we discussed darkness and light and how each of these things made us feel. Then, we showed the children a picture of Isaiah and read the verse, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." We then wondered about who the people could be and who or what the light could be. 

Thanks, Cheryl, for such a wonderful idea! I have learned so much from Cheryl over the past two years and been inspired by her. Be sure to check out her blogs, Diary of a Sower and Guiding Masha.


And now, once again, I'd like to invite you to link-up and share your ideas with us!




Please feel free to share all your ideas for Advent and Christmas with us

I'll be posting each week until New Year's. We all love to have a pool of ideas to gather from, so please share old or new posts. 


If you participate, please link back to Explore and Express. Feel free to grab the button above or in the side bar. 


By participating in the link party, you give me permission to share your photos in weekly highlights.


Please do not link giveaways or advertisements for commercial items. Thanks!

3 comments:

  1. Ahh Sheila, such a nice compliment--I'm blushing! I've learned so much from your blog, too. Glad you liked the Isaiah meditation. The kids in my catechism class last year (the first year I did it with the candle sleeve) really liked it. In fact, one mom told me that her son was still using the candle every night at bedtime, even last June! She said he won't go to bed without it. I was amazed, because this particular boy was a bit mischievous and never seemed to be paying attention. Just shows how the Holy Spirit can work even when we think our message is falling on deaf ears!

    Blessings to you,
    Cheryl

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  2. Wir haben in diesem Jahr am "Lebendigen Adventskalender" teilgenommen. Dabei gestaltet an jedem Tag eine Familie oder Gruppe/Einrichtung der Gemeinde ein Wohnungsfenster. Die Gemeinde und die Nachbarn sind dann abends eingeladen zusammenzukommen, um zu singen, eine Geschichte zu hören, ein Gebet zu sprechen und natürlich adventlich zu essen und zu trinken.

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    1. Das ist ja eine tolle Idee!

      For those who don't speak German: Markus' church is doing a "Living Advent Calendar" in which on each day of Advent a different family or group in the church decorates their apartment window. The church and the neighbors are then invited to come and visit. Then, they sing, hear a story, pray, and of course, eat and drink something together.

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