Homemade

With John being home in the evenings now, we've really enjoyed getting to have a family devotion time before Brennan goes to bed. We have been using Scriptures from the Bible study that John's a part of, but with Advent here, we have started using passages from our homemade Advent calendar. Now that Brennan is a little more aware of Christmas, it is our deep desire to teach him the true meaning of Christmas, especially since we all get assaulted by the commercialism of the season pretty much everywhere! It was actually a lot of fun for us to dig through our Bibles and find passages we wanted to include in our calendar that would teach about Christ and His birth. Our first night using the calendar was last night, and it's definitely a time we are looking forward to...especially as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus' birthday!

Preparation

With Advent upon us and Christmas quickly approaching, we are trying to slow down and remember the true meaning of Christmas and to use the season of Advent to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ's birth. Our church is doing a sermon series called "Simply Christmas" as a way to encourage the congregation to turn our hearts toward Christ instead of allowing the season to pass in a flurry of gifts, parties, and general holiday craziness. One thing I hope to do to prepare my heart is to truly focus on the lyrics of Christmas songs. We've heard and sung these songs so often that it's easy to forget what the lyrics are truly saying. I was listening to "Mary, Did You Know?" this past weekend and was amazed once again that God became a baby, that Mary's baby was God incarnate.

Mary, Did you Know?

by Mark Lowry

Mary, did you know

That your baby boy

Would someday walk on water?

Mary did you know

That your baby boy

Will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know

That your baby boy Has come to

make you new?

This child that you've delivered

Will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know

That your baby boy

Will give sight to a blind man?

Mary did you know

That your baby boy

Will calm the storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby

You've kissed the face of God.

The blind will see

The deaf will hear

The dead will live again

The lame will leap

The dumb will speak

The praises of the Lamb

Mary did you know

That your baby boy

Is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know

That your baby boy

Will one day rule the nations?

Did you know

That your baby boy

Is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding

Is the Great I Am