Advent Activities: December 7, 8, & 9

December 7
Second Week of Advent
Light the “Candle of Preparation.”
Read from Scripture.
Pray for loved ones,
and prepare a new prayer list for the week.

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December 8
Make a Christmas card for a special friend.

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December 9
Create embossed gift tags.

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Embossed Gift Tags

1. Cut a simple shape out of cardboard.
2. Glue cardboard shape onto a square of cardstock or other heavy duty paper.
3. Cover with foil and secure with tape in back.
4. Gently press along the edges of the shape with eraser end of a pencil, a cotton swab, or anything with a firm but dull end. Pressing too hard or using a sharp tool will tear the foil.
5. Optional: Press (like “coloring” with the dull tool) the rest of the foil on the background of the shape to enhance contrast.
6. Color with semi- or permanent markers either on shape, on background, or both.

Other Ideas:

• greeting card inserts
• bookmarks
• picture frames (cut out rectangle in the center so the photo shows through)
• wall hangings
• table setting name cards

Advent Activities: December 5 & 6

Advent Activity, December 5th
Drink eggnog!

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Advent Activity, December 6th
Make fabric angel ornaments.

Lord, teach me what to say.

Advent Activity, December 4th
Cut-Out Paper Chain Garland

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Answered Prayer: Lord, teach me what to say.

10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Exodus 4:10-12

I thought my Social Anxiety might get the best of me today when I had to give a second parent advisement session on essay writing. The session last month went well, judging from the feedback after the fact, but I walked away feeling scrutinized and traumatized, though I knew it was all in my head.

This time, I'd been dreading the speaking engagement all week. It's not that I didn't know my topic through and through, not that I didn't feel a deep purpose in sharing what I've learned. It was worry about presenting myself well and providing the information in a way that could be understood and absorbed. It's hard for people to understand a person and absorb what she's saying if the speaker's stumbling over her words, shaking from nervousness, and pausing because she's forgotten where she was.

I had a long talk with God about that. My intentions were good, and I felt I truly did have something of value to give, and I wanted to give that presentation, because I knew it would help other moms who have trouble teaching their kids to write. So why all the anxiety?

Well, I asked God to take my nervousness from me and to give me the words to be clear, amicable, and thorough.

He gave me all of those.

The session went swimmingly. When all was said and done, it felt less like a "presentation," and more like a moms meeting. That is what I envisioned for the session, and I've been so grateful there are no lingering bad feelings or anxiety to follow me through to the next presentation.

Advent Activities

So we're celebrating Advent this year, even though we're not Catholic. The homeschooling group gave me several fantastic ideas for projects, so we're going to try to do them all.

• Fill the Advent calendar with nightly family activities, like "Play a game," "Make a special dessert," "Watch a Christmas movie together," etc.
• Use each night of Advent to add another figure to the nativity, and do some reading and discussion about each figure's role in the birth of Christ.
• Make an Advent "wreath" from house candles set into a bowl of beans. Wrap each candle in the appropriate color ribbon (especially since we'll just have to make do with the candles we already have, since we won't be able to buy any). Decorate with nature findings, like tiny pinecones, seeds, holly, etc.
• Bake a Christ Child's Birthday Cake. I'm letting the kids choose what flavor, and they'll decorate it themselves. On Christmas Eve, we'll set a candle in the center (I'm afraid we can't do 2008 candles), sing 'Happy Birthday, Jesus', and blow out the flame.

Next library trip, I'll poke around the shelves to see what we can find on Advent readings. I suspect we'll default to the Children's Bible anyway, or at least supplement.

Hopefully, the library will have a pretty good selection of Christ-centered story books in the children's section. We could probably endeavor to read them all if I came up with a good book list.