Advent :: Traditions
Come thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free.
From our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Our Christmas traditions have evolved over the years based on various changing life factors: no children, then having children, baby sleep schedules, money, location, and continued learning about Advent/church calendar. We try to keep our December slower and embrace the waiting. It's been good the past few years.
But there is always room for improvement. I want to understand better meaning of Advent and longing and anticipating - both remembering Christ who came as a baby and also looking ahead to his second coming as the king. I want to continue learning about the history of various traditions - both culturally and in the church. I want to treasure Jesus more every year. It is a battle against our American culture and against my flesh. As Tish Harrison Warren says, "I need rituals that encourage me to embrace what is repetitive, ancient, and quiet. But what I crave is novelty and stimulation." My hope is that every year our Christmas is more Christ-centered and Christ-exalting.
Here are the traditions we've done since the beginning:
1. Reading Christmas book stash // Dan grew up with special Christmas books and reading aloud. He introduced me to The Other Wise Man, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, and Christmas in My Heart series. While living in China, he read The Other Wise Man out loud to a group of about 10 fellow teachers in our apartment with candle lights and sleeping bags! There are many good seasonal books, but some favorites off the top of my head are The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, Good King Wenceslas by Jane Seymour, Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd Jones, A Child is Born by Margaret Wise Brown. Every year we add 1-2 more books. This year we added The Story Orchestra The Nutcracker, The Birds Xmas Carol, and Saint Nicholas The Real Story of the Christmas Legend.
2. Cutting paper snowflakes // Dan started cutting his own (elaborate) paper snowflakes when he was in junior high. He's passed down the tradition and folding knowledge to our boys and we tape them on the windows for the whole winter. Dan also is working on publishing and printing an Advent/Nativity book of his snowflakes and we hope next year to do a Kickstarter to finish it. He already has a prototype book that we read at home.
3. Buying a live Christmas tree // We typically do this the day after Thanksgiving. The two years we lived in China, we had artificial trees. For about 3 years we've found a family in Hendersonville, TN that sells trees to cut down on their property. White pine is my favorite. This year we got a Leyland Cypress.
4. Music // For our first Christmas as a married couple Dan gave me Steven Curtis Chapman's The Music of Christmas cd. It's a favorite to this day. We also have All I Really Want For Christmas cd of his, which is also very dear to my heart. There's also Roger Whittaker, Uncle David's children's choir album, Andrew Peterson's Behold The Lamb of God, Rain for Roots Waiting Songs, and this year we added Handel's Messiah by Sir Neville Marriner & Academy of St. Martins in the Field. Dan and I play our penny whistles together at least twice during the Christmas season. We usually laugh until we cry trying to figure our duets. Then, of course, we sing hymns and carols together. My favorite for Advent is O Come O Come Emmanuel.
6. Scripture readings // We started with just reading the Luke passage on Christmas morning. Now we read every evening leading up to Christmas day, for Advent. Reading some in Isaiah and different gospel accounts of the birth of Christ is so good. I am planning on organizing (with Dan) our own Jesse Tree scripture readings and doing a little write up for the boys. I haven't found one Advent "devotional" that I like for the whole family.
7. Treats // Christmas in a Cup = Starbucks peppermint mocha. Our first ever was in 2008 in China with Alex and Ben. Since living in the states, Dan likes to drink eggnog and we have special vintage eggnog cups. I try to make one special Christmas cookie (my mom's chocolate cut out cookies are a hit with the boys). My mom makes gobs of homemade cookies every year. Eventually I'd like to be like her.
8. Serve someone // This started when we lived in China, which now that I'm writing this all out, I realize how many traditions we started over there! The second year we were married we took a group of poor Chinese construction workers out to dinner on Christmas eve. Our friend Caleb, who spoke better Mandarin, went with us. The next year on Christmas eve Dan and I went searching for beggars and found two children begging alone. We bought them lunch at McDonalds and then they took us to meet their parents. We formed a relationship with their families that whole year--so much so that one of them wanted us to adopt their 3 year old and bring him back to the states with us so he could have a better life. Since being back in the US and having children of our own, serving in those ways has been harder. The years when I have a newborn, he is who I am serving. Last year we made shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This year we are going to bring little ornaments and treats to each of our neighbors and also to our postmaster, Angela. We also have dear friends and church family who are suffering that I'd love to do something extra special for. There is so much suffering and grief in this life, and everything can be harder around holidays.
9. Movies // Muppets Christmas Carol is our favorite movie, but our newest tradition is watching The Nativity on Christmas eve, which I love. It's really well done and we watched it for the first time with the boys last year (ages 7 and 5) but we fast forwarded through some of the Roman soldier scenes. There's also Little Women, White Christmas, The Santa Clause, Elf, Rudolph, Grinch, Frosty, It's A Wonderful Life.
What we've added since children:
10. Advent calendar // We did a nativity calendar that we made with our church (from plans by Noel Piper) for a few years. This year we are doing a Jesse Tree, which is the whole story of the Bible - from creation to Christ's second coming. Every evening after our Bible reading, a boy gets to put on a corresponding ornament. (As I mentioned above, I want to write our own Jesse tree reading plan- use Jesus Story Book Bible, Dan's snowflake book, etc. for guidance)
11. Candles // I've been searching for the perfect Advent candle holder wreath. Ideally it would be wood or vintage brass. I still haven't found one that is just right. This is only the second year we've burned colored Advent candles at home.
12. Boys exchanging gifts // For a couple of years now, we have taken the boys to a local toy store, Phillips Toy Mart, and let them each secretly pick out a gift for the other for under $10. Then they get to open those on Christmas eve. This has been really fun and exciting for them now that they are a little bit older.
13. Nashville Christmas Parade // This was a first and it won't be the last! It was December 2nd this year. Floats, balloons, candy, and marching bands. The boys were also fascinated by the mounted police and military.
14. Andrew Peterson's Behold The Lamb of God // At the Ryman. Nick and Natalie bought us our first tickets to see this show and it is our ultimate favorite Christmas tradition. Every year it gets pricier and trickier with more kids and finding a babysitter, but every year I am so glad we go. It is always spiritually encouraging. I need the reminder of this old beautiful story (that hasn't ended yet); I need the community of saints. Fun side note: each of our boys has actually been to BTLOG at the Ryman as infants in a carrier with ear protection. Eventually we will bring them with us, likely one at a time, when they are older. For now, they listen to the cd on repeat at home.
15. Intentional decorations // Our beloved wooden Chinese nativity set is on the piano. My mom bought the boys a Fisher Price nativity set that is perfect for toddlers. A few years ago we got the boys a Playmobil nativity set. We have a letter board that I change to include a carol or scripture for Advent. This stays up all year: our Mary Consoles Eve print made by a nun in Iowa. Lastly, Little Things Studios carol calendar came out this year and it's great.
16. Lights // We went to the Opryland Hotel one year to see their lights. They had a nativity scene at that time...I don't know if they still do that. For the past few years we've taken a nighttime family walk to our neighbor just right down the road. They go all out and deck the house and yard with lights, movable figurines, and a nativity.
I'm not officially listing this because we've only done this once, but I think next year we will try it again: A Walk Through Bethlehem. If you live in Nashville, you should definitely check this one out. It is put on by a church and it's really well done. But it's only 1 day and the line is loooong. We took the boys when they were 6 and 4 years old (or maybe 5 and 3), so the Roman soldiers were a little bit scary to them at the time, but they both remember it to this day and talk about it whenever we drive by that church. I've had to remind them that it was not the real Bethlehem. It is a great tradition, just harder for younger ones because of the long wait and crowds.
Two things I'd like to add in the years to come:
1. A handicraft for the boys and me to do during this season - something to give to others. I just learned how to embroider...and I love the idea of knitting.
2. Poetry: some read by us and some written by us.
Lastly, here are some links for further reading -- all are really good and have informed our traditions.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/seven-reasons-to-celebrate-advent
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-we-see-christmas-symbols
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-quest-for-the-historical-santa/
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/o-come-o-come-emmanuel
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/rethinking-santa
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/december/why-do-we-have-christmas-trees.html (I haven't read this one in full yet)
http://adrielbooker.com/advent-jesus-storybook-bible/
http://insidetheyellowhat.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-jesse-tree.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday) (I want to learn more about the church calendar)
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