Advent is a time during the church year when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (at Christmas) and when we anticipate Jesus’ return.  It can be a meaningful time in both the church and in the home.  This year, Advent begins on December 1^st.  Here are a few ideas for Advent as you seek to keep Christ at the center of your holiday celebrations:

• Attend Advent Services – On Wednesdays December 4^th and December 11^th, Advent services will be held at 7:00 PM in Keturakat Hall.  Advent services at Community Lutheran Church are typically intimate and reflective.  Come early at 5:30 PM for a soup supper!
• Christmas Events – Leading up to Christmas, try to attend Christmas events that keep the focus on Christ.  My family participates in the San Marcos Holiday Parade with our church by dressing up as people from Bethlehem.  We also attend the Bethlehem Walk at First United Methodist Church in Escondido.  And Christmas just couldn’t come without the annual Christmas Concert at Community Lutheran Church, which this year is Wednesday, December 18^th at 7:00 PM.
• Advent Calendar – Advent calendars can be used to count the days until Christmas.  Each child attending worship in Escondido and San Marcos will receive an Advent calendar during the children’s message on December 1^st.  Our family has a felt Advent calendar at home with people and animals from the nativity that are taken out of pockets each day and added to the nativity scene.  What an exciting activity for our son!  Each day, we have the opportunity to discuss a part of the nativity together.
• Advent Wreath – Place an advent wreath at the center of your dinner table at home, and light the appropriate candle(s) each night.  Most wreaths use candles of purple (or blue), pink and white.  Each Sunday before Christmas, light one additional candle, until on Christmas, you light the last candle, which is the white Christ candle. 
• Advent Devotions – Families traditionally use Advent as a time to come together and focus on the coming of Christ, and a great time to come together is with devotions at the dinner table.  In our family, we light the Advent candle on our wreath and then use free printable Advent devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries (www.lhm.org/advent). 
• Create Traditions – There are plenty of ways to focus your family on Christ during the holidays.  Be creative!  Growing up, my mom always wrapped a new Christmas book for us to open on the first night of Advent, and we would read it at the dinner table together after lighting the first candle on our Advent wreath.  The week before Christmas, my family also enjoyed driving around in the car at night with hot chocolate and Christmas music to look at Christmas lights.  We made it a challenge to find as many nativity scenes or symbols of Jesus’ birth as we could, and when we found one, we left a thank you card at the front door.  My son has a child’s nativity set that we encourage him to play with, and we have put out a child-sized Christmas tree with crosses and symbols of Jesus’ birth for him to touch and talk about.  What are your family traditions that help you to focus on Jesus during Advent?