Advent is Coming!

Chrstmas is right around the corner.  Have you started thinking about it yet?

This is one of my favorite seasons of the year.  I love slowing 'regular life' down and taking time to think about the incarnation - God become man.  I love taking the time to talk of Him to my children, to really cultivate Christ at Christmas.  We read.  We paint.  We explore God's creation.

Last year we were pleased to use Truth in the Tinsel as our advent devotional.  Did any of you try it out last year?  I loved how simple, yet systematic it was.  Quality content presented in a hands-on relateable way is a rare find. My {then} 7 year old loved it and the {then} 3 year old loved it too.  Remember when we told you about our first day?

Well, I have a confession to make.  While we loved it, I just didn't have the energy to pull together the craft each and every day.  We did some of them, but not all of them.  The perfectionist in my was a bit tweaked that we weren't doing it all, but the realist in me confirmed that it was ok.  Content over craft. Content over craft...  anyone with me?

 

Although I'm not in the middle of a new baby and the throes of navigating allergies for the first time this year, we will be traveling this year which always throws off staying consistent with 'crafts'.  So I was pleased to discover that we could purchase simple paper ornaments to print off and color too.  THAT is something I can still do, even though we will be on the road next month or for those days when life is crazy and the thought of pulling anything extra together is just too much.   I'm excited to have the flexibility to focus on the truths so beautifully laid out to share with my kids and freed up to go either the adorable craft route OR the simple coloring route.

For those of you Sunday School teachers out there, she also has put together a Sunday School curriculum this year.

So if you have younger children at home and are looking for a way to faciliate letting the truth shine out each day, I think you'll find a winner here. 

As a fun bonus, Amanda has graciously agreed to give each of my readers 20% off.  Simply enter the coupon code: CultivatedLives

Looking for another fun craft idea.  Our "Joy to the World" ornaments are one of my most 'pinned' items.  I'm not a big fan of craft projects that the kid has to watch mom do in order for it to 'turn out right.'  That's why I loved making these. They were open ended enough for even the youngest child to do and yet still produced a beautiful product - not an easy feat.