Listen, friends. The meaning of Christmas is Jesus Christ- his birth. He came to earth as a human- and a baby, no less. Helpless. Born in the most humble of all circumstances.
In this day and age, we have to fight extremely hard against the materialism and the desire to fall into the hundreds of marketing schemes that come our way on a daily basis. I realize the irony in posting an entire blog post FULL of things to purchase for advent, but I hope that this extremely thoughtful and curated list will HELP you turn your eyes upon Jesus this season, and not the world.
If you are not in a place to be purchasing things, please click away from this blog post. Better a poor man’s Christmas with lots of love and laughter than a beautifully curated materialistic Christmas with accrued Christmas debt and the emptiness that comes from putting our hope in things of this world instead of Christ himself.
So, what is advent anyways? Advent is a time of the liturgical year that is a time of expectant waiting for the coming of Christ. Advent takes place in the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day and this year advent officially begins on November 29, 2020. I would encourage you to dive more deeply into WHAT advent is and WHY we as Christians use it to look forward to Christ’s first coming as a baby and his second coming as our hope and eternal savior.
How to use this blog post as a resource:
- Pick just one or two things to purchase this year. Be realistic with yourself- advent is usually a crazy busy time anyways, and there is no way we can do it all. I do not own all of these things, and I do not plan to do more than two of them this holiday season. More than likely, there will be a chance to use more of them next year!
- Think upon and choose the items that you think will point most strongly to Christ in your family.
- Be sure to remember your Christmas budget. Perhaps taking money out of a gift category and putting it towards being more intentional during the entire season of advent would be helpful for you and your family, especially in this year that has brought so much difficulty and angst?
- Consider items that you can reuse again next year. Instead of buying a one-time use advent calendar at the store, perhaps consider an advent calendar that you can fill each year.
- Remember that you can always use your local library to find most books! Don’t purchase 25 Christmas books for your child- check them out of the library! Request that your library buy one or two of these advent devotional books so that you can use them throughout December and turn them back in after Christmas is over!
- I have not purchased or vetted every single item listed on this list, so there may be one or two indications of personal theological differences. Please do your own research!
Advent Wreaths seem to be not overly popular this year, but I found a few decent ones on Etsy here, here, here and here. An advent wreath is the most simple and affordable, yet meaningful way I have found to celebrate advent. Forget all the bells and whistles and start with this- intentionally focusing on hope, peace, love and joy. The candles are typically purple and pink, but I prefer the blue and pink sets myself. One candle is lit every Sunday leading up to advent.
The Advent Storybook– 25 bible stories that point to the coming of Christ. I love how this is all compiled into one book!
The Christmas Promise- We love everything this author has written, and this one is no different! Such a beautiful children’s picture book that points to Christ and how he fulfills all of the promises of Scripture!
The Star From Afar
Have you seen this beautiful and fun advent book and wooden nativity pieces? I love the idea of letting the kids play with the nativity scene- it makes it come more alive to the kids! I also love the idea of putting out one piece of the nativity each day leading up to the highly anticipated arrival of Jesus!
The Jesus Storybook Bible: A Christmas Collection
Did you know that if you start with the first story in the Jesus Storybook Bible and read one story each day leading up to Christmas, you will get to the story of Jesus birth on Christmas Day? That is just so beautiful and one more reason I love The Jesus Storybook Bible! It seems that the publishers have now come out with a book that is the Jesus Storybook Bible Christmas collection! So, read the regular Jesus Storybook Bible or order this book to guide you along!
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift
Ann Voskamp is a wonderful leader in all things “slow down and notice the meaningful”. She is a master of crafting beautiful words and leading us into thoughtful reflection on Scripture.
Rad Reader Advent Calendar
Admittedly, this is not a religious resource at all, but I did find it really fun to use with my kids last year! It is a free download advent calendar that we printed into a giant poster to color. Everyday there is one suggested children’s picture book to read or holiday activity to do and color the corresponding part of the calendar! To be honest, my kids just colored it all in one afternoon, which was SUPER fun! I don’t know if she is coming out with a new advent calendar this year, but if not, last years will suffice!
This is a free advent devotional that is emailed out every day during advent from Focus on the Family.
The 25 Days of Christmas Family Devotional
Jesse Tree Advent
We have now done a Jesse Tree Advent for a few years! Each day leading up to Christmas has a Bible story passage that points to Christ- all leading up to the arrival of Christ on Christmas Day! We love have Jesse Tree ornaments to hang one on the tree each day. There are many different options, but my favorite ones are the handmade ones on Etsy. I have found some here, here, here and here.
Wooden Advent Calendar
Advent calendars at the store are great, but I love having a decor item that doubles as a daily advent calendar AND that I can use year after year. I like to write a Christmas activity or hymn on a little piece of paper and put it in each day along with a small treat. It’s a fun and tangible way to count down to Christmas! There are so many super adorable option on Amazon this year, but Etsy also has some amazing ones here, here and here.
I love absolutely everything that the Daily Grace Co has in their advent shop, but my favorites are the Hymns of Advent study, the family ornaments, the promise of Christmas children’s book, and some of the home decor items that they have listed. So, basically everything! Ha! And most of it is on major sale right now.
Shadow and Light. A beautiful daily advent reflection that follows the yearly advent (Week 2, Tuesday) instead of specific dates (Dec 16) so that it can be used year after year. There is a brief reflection, a passage of Scripture and a hymn to be sung each day. Plus, the cover is just beautiful!!
Unwrapping the Names of Jesus
This beautiful advent devotional is written by a fellow Cedarville grad. We were even in a Bible study together, and even though I don’t know her well, I can vouch for her faithful consistency in the Word and her ability to bring her writing to life. I went through the Easter devotional that Asheritah wrote, and I am confident that the Advent one will be just as beautiful.
What are your favorite resources to use as tool to help point you towards Christ and his coming?
Suzanne, I’m considering reading Shadow and Light for my Advent devotional this year! Unwrapping the names of Jesus is one of my favorite Advent devotionals of all time! I first read unwrapping the names of Jesus during the Advent season of 2017! Thanks for all these wonderful Advent resources and Merry Christmas! š Luke 1 & 2š
I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to start focusing more on the Advent season with my kids. I have an advent spiral that we will use to light a candle each day. I found that the Jesus Storybook bible offers lots of free advent resources for download and so we are using that reading plan for our Jesse tree. I found Jesse tree ornaments on Etsy that match up to the Jesus Storybook bible reading plan so I’m excited about that. That’s what we are doing this year to keep it manageable but next year, I’m considering doing the kindness elves as well which are also on etsy. I love the concept!