Friday, December 08, 2006
Advent Night
Wednesday night was the second of our weekly Family Advent Nights. This tradition is something that was first introduced to me about 3 years ago by Todd Wilson, the Family Man. (You can view his web pages on Advent Nights at http://familymanweb.com/adventnight.htm.) Todd's ministry is awesome, and I recommend it to every Dad out there who wants to be encouraged in the struggle to raise kids and be a good father.
My preparations for Advent Nights begin prior to Thanksgiving - the baking of the snacks. In our house, it's always been cinnamon rolls. This dates back to the very first time we did Advent Nights. We had just come home from my grandmother's funeral in the wilds of Northern Michigan, and we had brought back some samples of the local cuisine. Like everything else, everything in the upper pennisula is better than we have it here down in the land of the trolls. (Otherwise known as the "lower pennisula.") That includes the cinnamon rolls. Everyone who knows anything about the Keewinaw Bay knows that the greatest sweet rolls in creation are found at the Hilltop Restaurant in L'anse. They're huge - like a loaf of bread. For one person, they are breakfast by themselves. And there'd be plenty to take home. Not knowing that they would start something big, I brought a bunch of those treasures home. When I was looking for a treat to snack on for Advent Night, these were a natural choice. (Since that first year, I've opted for baking my own cinnamon rolls and freezing them before Thanksgiving. It would be nice touch to have rolls from the Hilltop, but shipping costs and the inevitable procrastination in ordering them every year made me decide to just make my own.)
The next thing needed for Advent Night is a wreath of some type. These can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like. The first year I decided to do this, I found a very simple artificial wreath at a Catholic church supply store. However, after the holidays that year, I found this one at Christian Book Distributors:
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=11952&netp_id=310467&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW#curr
It is a beautiful piece, very affordable, and the included nativity scene allows us to add a little bit to the celebration. I pretty much follow Todd's plan for Bible readings, but I add figures to the scene to go along with that night's reading. For example, the first week, I added Mary and Joseph for the "Prophecy Candle," as Mary and Joseph both received words from God regarding the roles that they and Jesus would play in history. This week was the "Bethlehem Candle," so in addition to Mary and Joseph, the stable animals made an appearance.
So, here's how the night typically goes - We turn off all of the lights except for the Christmas Tree and my Village Display. We gather around the kitchen table where I've set up the wreath with the figures that have already been added from prior weeks. We have a word of prayer, and I light the number of candles for that week of Advent. Then while the new figures are added to the scene, (One of the kids usually places the figure in or around the wreath.) I explain what the significance of this week's candle is. The Bible reading comes next, and then we go around the table with everyone offering a prayer of petition or thanks to Almighty God. After that, Rita breaks out the cinnamon rolls while I read the Christmas story for that night. I read a story every night to the kids during the Advent season. There are a variety of books that could be used for reading alouds during this time of year. My favorite series is the Christmas in my Heart books, edited by Joe Wheeler. Most of the stories are faith based and all tell a message and a moral about what's really important during the holiday season.
And that's it. It's a lot of fun, pretty simple to do, and I know that the kids really look forward to it. (Christopher especially will ask me at any time of the year - "Is tonight an Advent Night?")
