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Advent. For Kids!

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it's important to daily remind your children why we celebrate Christmas.  To give them a gentle nudge toward giving, sharing, loving, and the birth of Christ. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the fun, the toys, the decorations, the planning ... but beginning and ending your days with the sweet reminder of Jesus will help keep your children focused in spite of everything else.  Even just a few minutes a day will help keep Christ at the forefront of their precious little minds.

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When Levi was a baby, we read to him a single verse every night leading up to the birth of Christ.  

When he was older, we read the verses and let him open and eat a chocolate.

This year we wanted to do something different.  Something deeper.  Especially now that he is older and understands exactly what we are doing.

I recently stumbled upon this woman's blog, Home with the Boys, and quickly discovered we have a LOT in common.  Both "boy moms" and both wives of medical residents.  So, naturally, I was hooked! She shared about doing advent with her children with their Jesus Storybook Bible.

I was super excited when I saw this because we L-O-V-E the Jesus Storybook Bible in our house.  I definitely recommend it to anyone with young ones.  Hey, I'd even recommend it for adults.  It's beautiful.

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A friend of mine recommended this to me when we were pregnant with Levi and we snatched one up when he was just a month old.  Every Bible story points to Jesus ... "where every story whispers his name".  Here's a little description of this great Bible! 

{The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the story beneath all the stories in the Bible. At the center of the story is a baby, the child upon whom everything will depend. Every story whispers his name. From Noah to Moses to the great King David–every story points to him. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle–the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the story unfolds, children will pick up the clues and piece together the puzzle. A Bible like no other, this book invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures, to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation–and at the center of their story too. Recommended for ages 4 to 8.}

So, we began our advent readings on December 1, and each night we read a new story that ultimately points us back to Christ.  There are 21 Old Testament readings with a brief paragraph at the end showing how it relates to Jesus' coming.  Then the last three days are the birth of Christ, so it all comes full circle for the little ones.  

If you want to do this with your children, here are the readings for each day! The stories in the Jesus Storybook Bible are simple and super easy to understand for children.  They're short, to the point, and hold their attention perfectly! 

Dec. 1 – The Story and The Song (Psalm 19, Hebrews 1)
Dec. 2 – The beginning: a perfect home (Genesis 1-2)
Dec. 3 – The terrible lie (Genesis 3)
Dec. 4 – A new beginning (Genesis 6-9)
Dec. 5 – A giant staircase to heaven (Genesis 11)
Dec. 6 – Son of laughter (Genesis 12-21)
Dec. 7 – The present (Genesis 22)
Dec. 8 – The girl no one wanted (Genesis 29-30)
Dec. 9 – The forgiving prince (Genesis 37-46)
Dec. 10 – God to the rescue (Exodus 3-13)
Dec. 11 – God makes a way (Exodus 14-15)
Dec. 12 – Ten ways to be perfect (Exodus 16-17, 19-40)
Dec. 13 – The warrior leader (Joshua 3, 6)
Dec. 14 – The teeny, weenie…true king (1 Samuel 16)
Dec. 15 – The young hero and the horrible giant (1 Samuel 17)
Dec. 16 – The Good Shepherd (Psalm 51, 2 Samuel 7, Psalm 23)
Dec. 17 – A little servant girl and the proud general (2 Kings 5)
Dec. 18 – Operation “No More Tears!” (Isaiah 9, 11, 40, 50, 53, 55, 60)
Dec. 19 – Daniel and the scary sleepover (Daniel 6)
Dec. 20 – God’s messenger (Jonah 1-4, Hebrews 1:1-2)
Dec. 21 – Get ready! (Nehemiah 8-10, Malachi 1, 3 and 4, Ezra 7)
Dec. 22 – He’s here (Luke 1-2)
Dec. 23 – The Light of the whole world (Luke 2)
Dec. 24 – The King of all kings (Matthew 2)

Each day before our reading, Levi gets to add to his Fisher Price Advent Calendar ... which we all love! :)

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I'm super excited about our advent this year.  Levi is really soaking it up and learning so much.  He's not only learning about the birth of Christ, but the power and importance of Who He is and why He came.  And why, exactly, we celebrate that birth.

I love it.  





I am a modern day homemaker with a passion for family, cooking, celebrating, decorating, travel, and memory making! The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart in my husband and our two sons. We recently built our dream home and cultivating a loving and happy haven for my family is where I find so much joy.

Comments

  1. I saw this on Pinterest--I love it. Such a great Bible. Thank you for sharing it here!

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  2. I live in Canada and have never seen an advent calendar like you Fisher Price one I love it! Where did you find it?

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  3. I've been thinking about doing an Advent calendar with Zoe this year, just because it seems like a great activity and she's SO into Christmas this year. I didn't grow up doing it, I mean.. I grew up in a Christian house, my parents just didn't know about doing stuff like Advent. Anyways, this Jesus Storybook Bible sounds AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing it, and for helping parents who don't know how to do this stuff do it!

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  4. Thank you for sharing how you do Advent in your family! My daughter may not quite "get it" this year but I love the idea of this storybook bible and reading these stories each day of Advent.

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  5. We have the Jesus Storybook Bible too, and my son LOVES it, even though he's still a little young to really understand - I love how every story ties it back in with what Jesus did for us! This is a cool idea to do an advent calendar using that book - I'll have to keep it in mind for future Christmases. :-)

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