Preparing Our Hearts and Homes for Advent - The Crosswalk Devotional - November 29

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Preparing Our Hearts and Homes for Advent
By Lynette Kittle

Bible Reading:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

Preparing a home for the arrival of a new baby is a busy time, full of choosing clothes, bedding, accessories, and more. It’s an exciting time of getting everything ready and waiting for the day to come. It’s a time when families and friends come together to help prepare and celebrate the coming birth.

As well, during the Advent season, we can remember, prepare, and celebrate anew the coming of Jesus as a newborn baby into our world.

Some Christians may ask, what is Advent? 

Even though I grew up as a pastor’s daughter, we didn’t really emphasize Advent; it was something celebrated in more liturgical churches like Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran, so we didn’t really learn or practice the observance growing up.

The word Advent is derived from the Latin word “coming” and is a time of anticipation, prayer, spiritual reflection, and preparation for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.

Advent traditionally starts four weeks before Christmas, beginning on the Sunday closest to November 30 and ending on Christmas Eve.

Yet, it’s a beautiful time of preparation, lasting four weeks, leading up to the celebration of Jesus’ first coming at Christmas in the birth of our Messiah, and also the anticipation of His second coming and return to earth, yet to occur.

6 Meaningful Ways to Prepare for and Celebrate Advent

The following are six traditional ways to prepare our hearts to celebrate Advent.

1. Attend special Advent services. Some churches and denominations offer Advent services leading up to Christmas, where attendees join together to prepare their hearts for Christ’s birth with Scripture reading, an Advent message, songs, and prayers.

2. Follow an Advent Calendar. Leading up to Christmas day, as a family, go through an Advent calendar, which offers 24 or 25 doors to open, each holding a small surprise, toy, candy, or Bible verse inside to help us focus on, prepare, and celebrate each day of Advent. 

Opening each door helps to teach us about Christ’s coming, along with creating warm family moments and memories to last for years to come.

3. Light an Advent Wreath. An Advent wreath is traditionally made out of evergreens, but can come in various forms, such as wooden or plastic, holding four candles to represent the four weeks leading up to Advent, lighting one candle each Sunday. Traditionally, because purple represents royalty, the candles are usually three purple and one pink candle. 

Lighting the wreath offers a time for expectation and reflection, where we can look forward to Christ’s coming and rejoice because Jesus is the light of the world. As John 8:12 records, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

4. Create an Advent chain. As a visual countdown to Advent, young children may especially enjoy making an Advent chain, linking together colorful pieces of paper to represent each day leading up to Advent. Every day, remove a link until Christmas Day.

5. Prepare a manger. Some families construct a small manger to represent preparing a place for the coming Christ, lining it each day with pieces of straw in preparation. 

As Luke 2:7 reminds us, “And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

6. Share Jesus. Each week of Advent, tell someone about celebrating it and what it means to all of us. Like the shepherds told others about Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:17-18, tell those we know about His coming. “When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

Intersecting Faith & Life:

If you grew up Christian, but unaware of celebrating Advent, take some time to prayerfully consider if you and your family would like to participate this coming year in one or more of the traditions.

Further Reading:
4 Advent Traditions to Carry on with Your Family

How did today’s devotional speak to you? Share your thoughts in the Crosswalk Devotional discussion.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Patrick Frost 

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

Check out fantastic resources on Faith, Family, and Fun at Crosswalk.com! 

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