Advent Day 1, 2014

 

  

"You are Lord of Creation and Lord of my life. Lord of the land and the seas. 

You are Lord of the heavens before there was time. Lord of all Lords you will be!"

December 1 always seems to come in a rush and catch me by
surprise. Just as soon as the Thanksgiving dishes are all put away, in blow the Christmas bins spilling over with excitement. We started last evening's Advent with the house in total darkness. And then- a single candle lit to show just how much impact it can have on the darkened room, symbolic of God's power to merely speak and illuminate the nothingness. We read about the Creation of all that we know and lit the first candle on the Advent wreath which represent the ways that God reveal Himself to us, through Creation and nature. There are 2 Creation ornaments, 2 small chocolate flowers that we molded, and the start of a Lego creation to build along the month, in the Cross box. We ended by praying about what we had read and teaching them "You are Lord of Creation."

Now that we have gone through our Jesse Tree list for a few years our kids know somewhat what to expect. They showed up to Advent story time with plush kangaroo and snake, knowing it was Creation night.

So in order to preserve an element of surprise we decided to implement a new idea this year- a search for the wandering wise men! We have told them they are not real and this is just for fun, but with our wishes to build anticipation for the coming Christ we will be visited by the wise men too who are also looking everywhere for Jesus. And why would they come to our house? Because we are seeking after Jesus too! As expected, one son is a little hesitant, and one dives in and was up again before 7am searching the house.

After Advent, armed with their candles, they took to the yard to look for any hidden or lost wise men. It was a little funny because they didn't know what they were looking for and the front gate was accidentally left open which gave the appearance of real visitors. All they found tonight was a tiny hat and treasure box but it was enough for them set a lure and trap with the found hat and treasure box. 

"Lost and found". Clever.

This morning there was a note by the trap and a poor, lost wise man and camel found in the kitchen by the coffee maker. We are going to hang a large star up that they will be following, but they will be searching for the baby all month. The boys can't touch them if they find them so as not to knock them off track, but can observe how far they make it each day. We like the creative outlet, the boys like the hunt, and the point is to build anticipation as we are all awaiting the day of celebrating the Lord's gift to us at Christmas.