• Recipes
  • Urban Homesteading
  • Organic Gardening
  • Faith and Family
  • Homeschool
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

My Humble Kitchen

food • faith • family

  • New? Start Here!
  • About
  • Recipes
    • Beverages
    • Breads
    • Breakfast
    • Salads
    • Egg Dishes
    • Meat and Fish
    • Pasta
    • Rice and Legumes
    • Soups and Stews
    • Vegetables
    • Sandwiches
    • Casserole Meals
    • Crockpot Recipes
    • Odd Bits Recipes
    • Spanish Food
    • Naturally Sweetened Sweets and Treats
    • Condiments
    • Homemade Jams and Preserves
    • Whole Grains
    • Ferments
  • Shopping Guide
  • eBooks
You are here: Home / Topics / Faith and Family / What is Advent? This Year, Let’s Celebrate Christmas Intentionally.

Faith and Family

What is Advent? This Year, Let’s Celebrate Christmas Intentionally.

My kids are eagerly awaiting Christmas day.  Right now, all they can think about are the toys they’ll be receiving.

In order to build on that anticipation and celebrate our Christmas season intentionally, we’ll be observing advent this year.

Growing up, advent wasn’t a tradition in my home so I never knew what it was or the meaning behind it.  Over the years I’ve seen many different people speak about advent and most recently, pinterest has been brimming with advent calendars.

I figured it was a cute way to count down to Christmas with the kids.  When I started to reasearch it, I found out it was something much more beautiful than that.

What is Advent?

Advent is a period of time that starts four Sunday’s before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.

The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.”

Within the period of advent, as a family, the true reason for Christmas is celebrated intentionally.  For four weeks, we’re remembering the thousands of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the coming of Jesus.

This is done by reading scripture, making crafts, baking, and singing from day 1 to day 25 leading to the birth of Christ.  As a Christian, it’s a time to also focus on His second advent.  Our hope and faith in His return.

How My Family is Celebrating Advent This Year

 

Advent starts this coming Sunday, December 2nd.

To celebrate, I’m going to make this mason jar advent calendar.

Source: truthinthetinsel.com via Diana on Pinterest

 

They’re just my style and will work perfectly with the advent study we’ll be going through called, Truth in the Tinsel.

Truth in the Tinsel is an ebook with daily scripture reading and ornaments to make with the kids.  I’ll gather the weekly craft materials and put them in mason jars ready to go for our evening study.

 

 

Day by day, the kids will get excited to work through the mason jars as they’ll be able to visually see Christmas day drawing near.   What’s great is that they’ll also truly understand what we’re celebrating.  The birth of Jesus.  My prayer is that we can rejoice in this season and savor every little bit of Christmas.

Here is a youtube video the author put together to explain the book a little bit.

Doesn’t that sound like fun?  I’m excited to start.

Advent Candles

Traditionally, candles are used in observance of advent.  Built around a wreath, there are 3 purple candles, one pink, and one white in the center.

Source: bing.com via Charlotte on Pinterest

 

One candle is lit for each week of advent.  So on week 1, candle one is lit.  On week 2, candle one and candle two are lit… and so forth.

The outside candles represent hope, peace, joy, and love. The center white candle represents Christ which is lit on Christmas Eve.

For our purposes, we’re just going to use four candles like the first picture above and light them on each day we start our study.  I think it will be a nice touch and I’m sure my boys will love taking turns lighting them and putting them out as well.

Morning Advent Study For Mama

As my morning devotional this month I’m excited to have started an advent study by Good Morning Girls.

I really enjoy the studies put together by Good Morning Girls as they teach inductively.  You read through the word, analyze the scripture, and apply it to your life.

I’m really going to enjoy this one and a great thing about it is that it’s free.  What a blessing, indeed!  The study started Monday, but it’s never to late to start!

By being intentional this year and observing advent, the excitement and warmth of Christmas can be felt in my home as we truly recognize the birth and coming of our King!

Do you celebrate Advent?  Please share any studies you use or traditions you keep.  I’d love to hear about new studies for the years to come 🙂


15 Comments

About Diana Bauman

Diana is a mother of three, proud wife, and humbled daughter of God. She finds the most joy meeting with Jesus in her organic gardens. She is completely blessed to be able to call herself a stay at home mom where she home educates her children, joyfully serves her husband, and cooks nourishing, real food, for her family. She loves connecting with people on facebook, google+, pinterest, and instagram.

« Maple Cranberry Sweet Potatoes
Simple Lives Thursday, #123 »

Comments

  1. Ally's Sweet & Savory Eats says

    November 28, 2012 at 8:28 am

    Thanks for this Diana – I’ve been looking to do something for my kids as well. They will love this!

    Reply
    • Diana Bauman says

      November 28, 2012 at 8:43 am

      Let me know how it goes. I’m really excited to start this with my kids 🙂

      Reply
  2. Steph (The Cheapskate Cook) says

    November 28, 2012 at 8:39 am

    Really really like this, Diana. Thanks for the inspiration. I might use this this year!

    Reply
    • Diana Bauman says

      November 28, 2012 at 8:43 am

      Thanks for stopping by, Steph!

      Reply
  3. Steph says

    November 28, 2012 at 8:57 am

    This will be our family’s first year of celebrating Advent as well, and we are also going to be using the Advent jars & the Truth in Tinsel devotional! 🙂 I am really looking forward to how it goes, and hoping to start a new family tradition!

    Reply
    • Diana Bauman says

      November 28, 2012 at 9:32 am

      Me to, Steph! You’ll have to let me know how it goes with your family 🙂

      Reply
  4. JEN says

    November 28, 2012 at 9:43 am

    Thanks for the info! I just bought Truth in the Tinsel. I am super excited because I have been looking for something to guide me through this first year of Advent with our 3 and 4 year old- and this is perfect!

    Reply
    • Diana Bauman says

      November 28, 2012 at 9:49 am

      I’m glad to hear it, Jen! I’m excited to 😀

      Reply
  5. Bethany says

    November 28, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    We’re doing Advent for the first time this year, too! We decided to go with “Everyday Emmanuel” by Jellyfish One (the makers of the “What’s in the Bible?” series, http://store.whatsinthebible.com/products/everyday-emmanuel). I’m adjusting it a little to fit our family, but we plan to do the videos and everything. 🙂 I’m going to make our advent wreath this Friday with my mentoring moms group. We’re taking the month off of homeschool so we’re doing a few other fun things to fill our time, but I really wanted the focus of this month to be all about Jesus and sharing Him with others. We are really excited to start this new family tradition, and I absolutely love how advent challenges us to be purposeful every single day in December to remember the real meaning of Christmas! Can’t wait to share stories! 🙂

    Reply
    • Diana Bauman says

      November 28, 2012 at 9:38 pm

      That’s great Bethany! I’m glad you shared that link. I actually purchased it with the Christmas video from Money Saving Mom. It looks like a good one to! It will definitely be fun to share stories 😀

      Reply
  6. Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents says

    November 29, 2012 at 6:23 am

    Oh. My. GOSH! That mason jar calendar is kickin’! 🙂
    I posted about how we celebrate Advent yesterday…we just love it.
    We are able to do the advent candles at church and it’s very special. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Rita Johnson says

    November 29, 2012 at 9:29 pm

    We celebrate advent as well! I love it! We are going to be making Jesse tree ornaments to put together with my 2 and 4 year old. And for my 4 year old he gets to collect coins everytime he does something helpful, kind, etc and close to Christmas we are going to purchase a toy for toys for tots or with an Angel free. Then we also do an advent wreath with evening prayers and a short reflection. I hope you all enjoy your first advent celebrations!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. A Handmade Christmas: Miranda and Pocket's Fiber Friends - A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa says:
    December 3, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    […] celebrating Christmas intentionally, this year I’ve been making an effort to make and buy handmade […]

    Reply
  2. Naturally Sweetened, Whole Wheat, Sugar Cookies - A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa says:
    December 7, 2012 at 10:27 am

    […] intentionally by slowing down and savoring every bit of Christmas that we can. Some of us are observing advent, making handmade gifts, and, of course, baking sweets and treats made with […]

    Reply
  3. Truth in the Tinsel - Advent 2013 - My Humble Kitchen says:
    November 27, 2013 at 8:27 am

    […] Last year my family celebrated advent for our very first time. It was truly a wonderful experience as we focused on the birth of our savior for the entire month of December. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

My family of 7

I’m Diana – mother of five, proud wife, and daughter to an amazing God. Here you’ll find an encouraging community seeking to nourish our families both physically and spiritually. You’ll find us in our kitchens, gardens, and homeschool rooms pursuing a simple life in food, faith, and family.

Read More…

Real Food, Faith, and Family Straight to Your Inbox!

PLUS, receive my eBook a Month of Meals from My Humble Kitchen to Yours and a Real Food Menu Plan Printable FREE!

Living Foods

Fermented Buckwheat Crunch - Gluten-Free

Fermented Buckwheat Crunch

How To Make Milk Kefir - A Probiotic Yogurt-Type Drink | myhumblekitchen.com

How To Make Milk Kefir – A Probiotic Yogurt-Type Drink

Charlotte Mason Homeschool Planner

Winter Recipes

Honey Sweetened, Christmas Granola - Candy Canes and Chocolate Chips | myhumblekitchen.com

Honey Sweetened Christmas Granola with Candy Canes and Chocolate Chips

A Simple Beef and Barley Stew | myhumblekitchen.com

A Simple Beef and Barley Stew

Gluten-Free Almond Flour Fudge Brownies | myhumblekitchen.com

Almond Flour Fudge Brownies

A Vegetable Curry

Quick Bake Einkorn Biscuits | myhumblekitchen.com

Quick Bake Einkorn Biscuits

View More Winter Recipes

#probioticseveryday

How To Make Milk Kefir - A Probiotic Yogurt-Type Drink | myhumblekitchen.com

How To Make Milk Kefir – A Probiotic Yogurt-Type Drink

Fermented Buckwheat Crunch - Gluten-Free

Fermented Buckwheat Crunch

Naturally Pickled Leafy Greens and Stems with Onions

A Simple Recipe for Homemade Natural Fermented Pickles

Homemade Yogurt | myhumblekitchen.com

Homemade Yogurt

View More Gut Healthy Recipes

Copyright © 2025 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2025 · Divine Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...