Mozi Esmé: Mission Sunday: Advent

I love planning. I’m in my element when it comes to filling up a calendar with fun (or necessary) activities. Execution, follow-thru – that doesn’t always go so well.

And you know? That is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it is God’s way of stepping in and setting priorities straight.

Take today. On my list: make a card for a friend who is in the hospital due to a complicated pregnancy. As well as cleaning the house, some educational stuff, some more planning…

So I got Esmé started on the card. Next thing I know, she has stapled together 5 sheets of paper and written “9 Lullabies for a baby” on the cover page. Never would have thought of this myself, but it was perfect idea for a gift… So we spent the morning working on the lullaby project, singing lullabies, coming up with more decoration ideas. Lots of stuff not done, but that’s ok…

Back to the planning. The concept of a Christ-centered activity for each day of the month through Christmas strongly appeals to me.

When Esmé was 2 years old, I came across the idea of wrapping a book for each day of the month, letting her unwrap it and then reading it together. Brilliant? What 2yo doesn’t love unwrapping gifts? It backfired along the way, and by the time Christmas arrived, she had NO interest in opening presents.

When Esmé was 3 years old, we did the Jesse tree experience. I still love the concept and may do this again. Esmé wasn’t interested in the coloring activities to go with each day, but she WAS fascinated with the paper ornaments (in frames) that went with the devotions. Ann Voskamp has a lovely (free) Jesse Tree family devotional, complete with printable ornaments, if you’re interested in trying this out.

When Esmé was 4 years old, we did Truth in the Tinsel. If you are looking for a way to make Christ the center of the season with your little one, this gets TOP recommendations from both Mom and Esmé! A great experience for us in every way – Esmé looked forward to it each day, and Mom learned a lot in the doing, as well. It is currently $7.99. (Did I mention we only finished it up in March? That change of plans thing…)

When Esmé was 5 years old – oh, that’s where we’re at right now! We will be working through Everyday Emmanuel, a What’s in the Bible? product (currently $9.99). It feels a bit more traditional: a countdown calendar, Advent devotionals, and discussion of trees, Santa Claus, etc. Now that Esmé is in school, I like the idea of her learning a Christ-centered approach to common Christmas symbols.