Make Advent Calendars part of your holiday season
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given."
- Isaiah 9:6 (AMP)
I was rummaging through the card aisle of my local store, looking for a special card to give to a friend. After reading dozens of warm wishes and silly sentiments, I found the right one. I was about to leave, when I scanned over the cards one more time. It was then that something special caught my eye.
My attention was drawn to an Advent calendar. I sighed to myself as I picked it up and ran my finger over each date. I smiled with delight as I imagined what colorful pictures might be hiding behind each door.
Advent calendars have been a holiday favorite of mine since my childhood. Over the years, I used them to count the days with wishes and prayers from Dec. 1 through the 25th.
If you're not familiar with an Advent calendar, let me fill you in so you, too, can enjoy their place in the holiday festivities.
It is a calendar with small numbered flaps that you open one day at a time to joyfully count down the days until Christmas. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Over the years, I have had a diversity of pictures and characters that have blessed my calendars. I have had some that contained pictures of Santa's workshops with a special message behind each door. Others were glorious winter scenes that added extra beauty with reminders how Christmas was approaching.
A few years ago, I came across one that had a small piece of chocolate you could enjoy. I made the ultimate sacrifice and gave the chocolate to the grandkids.
Last year, I found one that depicted Charlie Brown and the Peanuts characters in their choir robes singing Christmas carols. I couldn't resist it. I bought it to serve as a reminder to enjoy some sacred music in the season.
But my all-time favorite ones display the pictures of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus surrounded by the splendor of that first Christmas night. It's a great way to share with family a reminder of the reason we celebrate.
Advent is celebrated in many church denominations, depicting a season of joy, hope and anticipation of Christmas Day. It's a way to savor the whole season leading up to the day the Savior for our sins entered the world. Many use it as a special time of prayer or fasting.
I like to imagine the Advent season as a time of miraculous adventure. After all, advent is the root for that word. This Advent season, let's pray God will bless us with adventures filled with joy and hope.
• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse Invite her to speak at your event. She is hosting a "Writing for Fun or Profit" conference in February, 2019. Contact her for information and to reserve your spot, Annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413.