Tis the season to be stressed…wait…that’s not right, but are you feeling it? As Christians, we know the deep, true meaning of Christmas, and we want to keep that the focus while still enjoying the most wonderful time of year with hot chocolate, caroling, and all the Hallmark movies. This is why I’m giving you 20 Advent ideas for the Busy Christian Mom. How to intentionally celebrate the birth of Jesus, the return of Jesus, all while having festive fun too.
Don’t worry! I’ve broken down the 20 ideas into four different episodes, because let’s face it. Small, manageable chunks are the easiest way to go in December. This gives you the opportunity to roll in these ideas into the flow of your coming weeks. The 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom will focus on:
- EP 16| 5 ideas: The Hope of Jesus
- EP 17| 5 ideas: The Peace of Jesus
- EP 18| 5 ideas: The Joy of Jesus
- EP 19| 5 ideas: The Love of Jesus
Like any busy Christian mom, you’re trying to focus on the reason for the season, but good golly that schedule is packed. The class parties, school dress up days, kid Christmas programs, and that’s not even mentioning the non-kid stuff. You’ve got end of year deadlines, work parties, and 37 Amazon deliveries to intercept before the evidence of boxes everywhere gives you away.
So, how do we do it all? Short answer: we don’t. Long answer: prioritizing is the key. When we prioritize Jesus, everything else falls into place. So, without further ado, here is the list of 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom. If you’re looking for this in a graphic form, make sure you’re on the email list, it’ll be on there. Head to brookecollier.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, enter your email, and check it Mondays at 6:15am CST.
CLICK TO LISTEN TO EP 16: The Hope of Jesus
Fun fact: Advent is a time to anticipate the second coming of Christ as well as celebrating the birth of Jesus. We know that on this side of Heaven it’s not all rainbows and butterflies, but we can rest in the hope of Jesus knowing that He’s coming back again.
He will make all things work together for good. People who have Jesus are rewired with a heart of hope. This week, our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom focus on the 5 advent ideas about the hope of Jesus.
Idea 1: Read Luke Chapter 1
Pro tip: when you read Luke 1, read it through the lens of hope. Think about the hope that fill us up think about Jesus’ return. Reflect on the anticipation and hope these people in the Bible must have felt when they heard Jesus was coming down in the first place. Did you know that there was about a 400 year span between the Old Testament and New Testament. God was working behind the scenes, and then Jesus is born!
Luke chapter 1 in the Bible gives us a lot of background information that we’ll need going into the birth of Jesus. Plus, hear a funny story about a guy who can’t talk while his wife is pregnant! That part cracks me up. Here’s a quick Brooke Breakdown of Luke 1:
- The birth of John the Baptist foretold: We talked about JTB in episode 3, and his parents are Elizabeth and Zechariah.
- The birth of Jesus foretold: You know that guy. He’s why we have Christmas. You’ve also heard of Mary and Joseph. We talked about Mary in episode 2.
- Mary visits Elizabeth: The wombmates celebrate and Mary sings a song
- JTB is born, hooray! His dad, Zechariah has a prophecy
For the love of gingerbread houses, don’t skip reading Luke chapter 1. It makes everything make better sense later, plus it gives you a chance to open your Bible and hear what I didn’t cover in the Brooke Breakdown. Bonus points if you read this with your kids! Remember the lens of the hope of Jesus when you read.
Idea 2: Discuss Luke 1 with Someone
This idea rolls right into the first idea to make this an easier workload. I get it, you’re busy, so I’m glad it only takes a few minutes to read Luke 1. If you need a refresher before you head into the discussion questions, take a five minute pause, and reread it. Bonus: Brain research shows that repetition matters, so good for you and your rereading! Or, you can read aloud with your family, and then go right into discussion questions if you’re looking for a two for one deal.
Here are some hope-filled questions you can reflect on (or ask your kids/spouse) about while you read this chapter. Remember this week’s focus is the hope of Jesus. As you discuss, think about how each of the people in this chapter found hope:
- How do you think Zechariah felt when the angel, Gabriel, appeared to him? What was his reaction like when the angel told him the news? How did Elizabeth and Zechariah feel about this news?
- The same angel, Gabriel, called Mary “favored one.” What do you think that means? What news did he tell Mary? How did Mary respond? How can her song encourage you this advent season?
- Where are all the places in this chapter you saw the hope of Jesus? How can you carry the hope of Jesus in your attitude today?
Idea 3: Pray for a Hopeful Spirit
Perspective is everything. Thank you, God, for this! When our perspective has an eternal mindset, our attitude begins to reflect that. We can have the perspective of hope because we have hope in Jesus; someone who never fails, came down to save us from our sins, and is coming back again.
We can trust in Him. We can walk in the hope of Jesus. Today’s advent activity is to say this prayer of hope. Pray it over your life, the life of your spouse, and the life of your kids.
God, thank you for your sacrifice. You sent your only son, Jesus, to come down here, and save us from hell. The ultimate sacrifice created ultimate hope. This hope is unshakeable, unbreakable, and undeniable. Help me walk in a way that radiates this hope. As I shift my perspective off of the holiday hustle and onto holy hope, I pray that you keep my heart focused on you, and the hope we have in Jesus. Help me keep advent about you and the hope you bring, and not a checkbox. Thank you for helping my eternal perspective influence my attitude. I ask that you help me represent your hope well. Amen.
Now that you’ve said it for you, you can pray this over your husband, your mama, your home, and the strangers you bump into along the way…even the Scrooges in your life. I little spark of hope can light up the whole world. Be the Bob Crachet.
Idea 4: Watch For King and Country in Theaters
The four-time Grammy Award-winning duo for KING + COUNTRY will be in theaters with their holiday concert A Drummer Boy Christmas LIVE: The Cinematic Concert Experience from December 5th-12th 2024:
- Locations: The concert will be shown in theaters nationwide and in other cities, including London, UK
- What to expect: The concert will feature live performance footage and views from the duo’s largest A Drummer Boy Christmas tour to date
- Tickets: Tickets are available now
The concert is a family-friendly show that blends the sights and sounds of the season with the duo’s musical mastery and storytelling. If you don’t have the ability to get to a theater this week, check out this featured article by Tara Adams.
My friend, Tara Adams, is one of the featured writers in this years Premier Edition of the Faithful & Festive Catalog. She writes about her favorite Christmas carol, Little Drummer Boy, and how our gifts have worth. You can grab your copy of the Faithful & Festive Catalog by clicking the link in the show notes, or heading to the Busy Christian Mom shop on Etsy.
Idea 5: Spread the Hope of Jesus
This idea can be as big or as small as you feel led. Idea 5 of our 20 Advent Ideas for the Busy Christian Mom is gifting someone hope and tying it back to Jesus. As Christians, we walk through life differently. Hope keeps our eyes focused on God. One of my favorite Christmas carols it’s “O, Holy Night”, and my favorite line is, “the thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices”. This hope, this anticipation of Jesus coming gives us a reason to celebrate big.
Here’s how this can work, take creative liberty as desired. And, of course, loop your family in on this, it’ll help those kiddos start to grasp deeper concepts too. First, brainstorm a list of people who could benefit from receiving a letter of encouragement. Hint: Everyone can use a letter of encouragement, so let those kiddos list out whoever they want.
Then, grab some good ol fashioned pen and paper and write a note of encouragement and hope. This could be writing to the widows or elderly in your church community or local retirement home. It could look like writing to classmates, teammates, or officemates. It can even be writing to the Grinches in your life. We all need a hope and encouragement pep talk every now and then.
You can dress up your letter and mail it if you want to. Or, you can just do a mailbox drop off like we used to do in the late 1900s dropping off birthday party invites. Here are some ways to spruce this up. Get it? Spruce! I’m the mom with all the dad jokes, I know:
- Christmas paper
- Fun holiday stickers
- Old fashioned envelops
- Fancy Christmas postage stamps
- Calligraphy, doodles, or drawings
As believers, the hope of Jesus fill us up, gives us a holy perspective, and helps us look forward to the wonderful things coming. As you go through this week, focus on the hope in Jesus, and sprinkle that around like the Christmas glitter that’s currently being tracked all throughout your house. Shout out Christmas crafts that keep coming out of those school backpacks. Tune in next week to hear 5 more ideas from our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom.
Week 1 Advent Recap:
- Idea 1: Read Luke 1
- Idea 2: Discuss Luke 1
- Idea 3: Pray the hope of Jesus over your life
- Idea 4: Go see For King and Country’s “A Drummer Boy” in theaters/read Tara’s article
- Idea 5: Write letters of hope and encouragement
CLICK TO LISTEN TO EP 17: The Peace of Jesus
What is advent, and what does it mean for Christians? We see the cute countdown calendars from stores, but we know that there’s something more to the season than 15 pairs of themed socks. Advent is a time to anticipate the second coming of Christ as well as celebrating the birth of Jesus. Today, we’re discussing ideas 6-10 of our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom.
With the hustle and bustle of the season, our next 5 of the 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom focus on the peace of Jesus. It’s the exact thing we need while we’re trying to haul out the holly. If your eyes are randomly twitching and you feel your heart shrinking like the Grinch’s, this is the best time to pause, listen to these ideas, and don’t let the world rob you of the peace you have in Jesus.
Idea 6: Read Luke 2
If you’ve already read it because you’re following along with the advent calendar from my catalog Faithful & Festive, high fives to you! If you’re asking, “Wait, what’s Faithful & Festive?”, I’m glad you asked. Faithful & Festive is a curated Christmas catalog for Christians. It has advent ideas, gift guides, featured articles, recipes, and more. You can get a free copy through the month of December if you’re on my email list. You can head to brookecollier.com, scroll to the bottom, enter your email, and check your inbox Monday morning.
Our first advent idea today piggybacks off of last week’s idea of reading Luke 1. I strongly recommend reading Luke 1 before you read Luke 2 because it has so much background context. Here’s what I’ll tell you about brain science: It takes the average person 7 times to hear something to remember it.
But, there’s the cool thing about the Bible, every time we read it, it’s alive and active and working in us. So, even if you’ve read Luke 2 before, your brain will help retain it better. Plus, since the focus this week is on the peace of Jesus, you can read Luke 2 through that lens and have a whole different perspective. Here’s a Brooke Breakdown of Luke 2, but as always, read it for yourself through the lens of the peace of Jesus:
- The Roman emperor, Augustus, orders a census to be taken
- Joseph and his pregnant, betrothed Mary head to Bethlehem
- Jesus is born, Hooray!
- Angels appeared to shepherds and told them the exciting news
- The shepherds get to meet baby Jesus and family
- Mary and Joseph go dedicate their baby, and a guy named Simeon is there
- Simeon has some cool insight, gets to hold baby Jesus, and says some really cool stuff
- Anna, a prophet, chimes in too, and that’s a great moment for the scrapbook
- Fast forward to 12 year old Jesus, his parents “losing him” for a couple days, finding him, and then preteen Jesus says some really great stuff
Remember, as you’re reading Luke 2 to yourself, your kids, or as a family, think about the peace of Jesus throughout this chapter. Idea 6 of 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to read Luke 2 through the lens of peace.
Idea 7: Discuss Luke 2
Idea 7 is to discuss Luke to with someone. If you’re flying solo, use this time to reflect and journal your thoughts on these discussion questions. If you’ve done ideas 1 and 2 from last week, you’ll already know what to do. If you haven’t read Luke 1 or 2 yet, pause, take a few minutes to read them, and then head to the discussion questions. Keep the theme of the peace of Jesus going:
- How do you think Mary and Joseph felt while they traveled to Bethlehem while Mary was very pregnant? What do you think contributed to the peace they may have had (or did not have)?
- There are several places in Luke 2 where someone may have not felt at peace. Which part of the story would make you feel lack of peace? Which part of the story would make you feel peaceful?
- When you’re faced with a situation that makes you feel scared, worried, angry…how can you focus on the peace of Jesus? What can you do to remind yourself of his peace? Moving forward, how can you combat that situation with the peace of Jesus?
Trigger Alert: The Word “Virgin”
Pro Tip: Invite God into this discussion! You can pray before you read Luke 2 or before you discuss the questions. Ask God to give you guidance on follow up questions, or responding to how your kids respond. One of my kids definitely asked, “What’s a virgin?”, so if you haven’t had the sex talk yet, or are on the brink of this talk, pray and ask God for guidance. Mary being a virgin was mentioned in Luke 1, so my kid had been sitting on this question apparently.
Hint: If you’re not ready for this talk, you can say something along the lines of, “God has made something special for a husband and wife to share together. That term means she hasn’t shared that special thing with Joseph because they’re not married yet.”
I always follow up these types of micro pre-sex talk discussions with this phrase, “As you get more mature, I’ll tell you more and more, but for now, that’s all you need to know for the story to make sense.” It lets them know that there is more information, but it’s not relevant to them yet, and you will let them know when the time is right.
Idea 8: Prayer of Peace
Well, if the sex talk discussion made you feel peaceful, you’re done here. I’ll see you next week! Ha. I kid. Which is why I’m following it up with Idea 8: a prayer of peace.
Listen, I know that this time of year, we can all be feeling all the feelings. You may have lost a loved one, and the holidays are just a reminder they’re not here. Maybe you’ve got work deadlines and school events consuming your calendar. Or, maybe you’re stretching that dollar to cover gifts, food, hosting, and being charitable.
The point is, when we focus on the peace of Jesus, his character trait of being a peaceful person, and the Holy Spirit providing peace within us, it takes a weight off our shoulders. Friendly reminder, if you haven’t taken a deep breath today, do it now. I’m going to say a prayer of peace over you. While I pray over you, take deep breaths, and join me while we talk to God:
God, thank you for the gift of peace. You are such a good gift giver and provider. We know that as we follow you, we become more like you. More peaceful. Thank you for giving us the perfect reminder of what peace looks like through your son, Jesus. Thank you for sending him here to constantly remind us that he is never in a hurry, and he is always filled with peace. Shine a light in the areas of our lives where we’re not at peace, and give us the wisdom to know how to become the peacemakers in these areas. Help us slow down, take a deep breath, and remember the peace of Jesus this advent season.
Deep breath in, everybody. If you need, rewind a minute and pray it again. Pray it over your household as people come over. Say prayers of peace before reuniting with family members. Pray and ask God to guide conversations, and help you have a peaceful demeanor…especially when that one uncle has a little too much egg nog and starts talking politics. May the peace of Jesus reflect in your responses.
Idea 9: Watch The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Idea 9 of our 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to go see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Wait! If you’re tiny humans are too tiny to go see a movie, you have a couple options. You can score yourself a movie date night with your hubs, and go see it. Ask for the gift of time, and have someone gift you babysitter money, and go see this movie. You can even do a trade off with your sister or friend. You watch their kids for a couple hours, and swap.
If movies are just totally out for you, you can open your Kindle, Audible, Libby, public library account, and check out the book. My mom would always read this book to me and my brother when we were growing up. I absolutely loved this tradition, but I haven’t actually vocalized it until this moment. Shout out, mom! I love this story because of you! But, here’s why I love it, and why you should go see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever:
Reason 1: We laughed the whole way through. There are funny one liners and zingers. Whether you grew up in church or not, some of these scenes had us rolling from relatability and having experienced it. Me, my sister-in-law, and my mom and dad took all our kids to the movie, ages 6-14, and we all loved it. Hint: Keep that popcorn bowl filled. That definitely helped.
Reason 2: We can all see ourselves in several of these characters. In the story, there are many different personalities. Some of these characters clash harder than a one person who loves the white lights on the Christmas tree and they marry the person who loves the colorful lights on the Christmas tree. Big time Christmas decoration clash.
Fun fact: that’s definitely me and Morgan. He loves the white lights, and I’m all about the bright colors. As the story unfolds, you’ll begin to relate and empathize with certain characters. This is great for many reasons in itself, but empathy is the big one here.
Reason 3: This is probably my favorite reason I love this story, and the reason my eyes got all sweaty watching it. There were several situations in the storyline that I have experienced from different perspectives. It was humbling to see the perfectionist realize that being perfect is 1) unachievable and 2) pushes people away.
It tugged my heart strings seeing the internal struggle of wanting to keep the peace, but not sure how to make that work. I saw myself in the person who wanted to prove they were more than what they seemed. It was humbling to watch someone admit they were wrong and apologize. There are so many good, moral lessons in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. But here’s my favorite part…
It’s seeing the exact moment someone realizes who Jesus is, what he’s done, and that he did it for them. Someone who tried to do it on their own, felt alone, and try to tough it out and live life in survival mode on their own. It’s seeing the exact moment someone believes, is redeemed, and is saved once and for all. They are not alone, and they never were. It’s watching someone go from death to life, and it was done beautifully in the show. So powerful.
Idea 10: Tell Someone About Jesus
I want that everyone; for people to realize who Jesus is and what he’s done. I want others to have that moment of salvation where their life is changed. Their eternity is in Heaven, and they are redeemed by the blood of Jesus. I want them to have peace knowing that Jesus did this for them. Here’s the million dollar question: What am I doing about it?
Here at the Busy Christian Mom podcast, one of the ways to grow your faith is by telling others about who God is and what He’s done. When we go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, we are helping people see who Jesus is. He came down from Heaven, lived on Earth, and was crucified, all for us. Christmas is more than just the birth of Jesus, it’s everything his time on Earth represents. He was born so that he could die, and save us all from our sins once and for all.
Here are some ways you can tell someone about Jesus. First, pray about it. You can ask God to give you the name of someone He wants you to talk to. Ask for confidence and boldness of faith (listen to episode 8 for encouragement on this). Have faith that when you follow God’s promptings, it won’t return void.
- Send a text wishing a Merry Christmas and ask if there’s anything you can be praying for for that person. This can open up conversation
- Invite someone to your church’s Christmas Eve service. Our church has cards you can pass out, and they even have an invite link you can text. Easy peasy.
- Go grab a peppermint mocha or holiday beverage of your choice with another human. Talk about the ways God has come through for you
- Invite someone to go see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Follow God’s nudges, and let the conversations flow. Have peace knowing that God is the one who takes care of the saving, you just get to go tell it on the mountain about what He’s done for you. Talk with God, ask Him for guidance, and when He reveals something to you, go for it with peace and confidence!
Podcast Recap:
- Idea 6: Read Luke 2
- Idea 7: Discuss Luke 2
- Idea 8: Prayer of Peace
- Idea 9: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
- Idea 10: Tell Someone About Jesus
As followers of Christ, we can focus our heart posture on the peace of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t rush. He’s the definition of steady, consistent, unconditional peace. As we go through this week, commit to doing these 5 new activities from our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom.
Don’t overcomplicate it like the dang Elf on the Shelf. Jesus wasn’t complicated. Slow it down, pause, and breathe easy knowing that Jesus is perfect peace. He came to save us, and we’ll get to be with Him forever.
CLICK TO LISTEN TO EP 18: The Joy of Jesus
Fa la la la la le lujah! Christmas is the most wonderful time of year, and it’s special because of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians call this time of anticipation “Advent”, and it’s a time to focus on the birth of Jesus as well as look forward to the second coming of Christ.
If you’re playing along at home, we’ve covered 10 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom. It’s the most wonderful, and possibly the busiest time of year. In fact, I have learned a very important lesson. A couple weeks ago, child #2 brings home a note about bringing 22 stocking stuffers for the class. Cool. A week ago, child #3 brings a note home saying the same thing. Great. Today, my firstborn says that they needs 22 of stocking stuffers too.
All this to say, I have yet to buy the 66 Christmas items, but I have high hopes to get those soon in a way that doesn’t break the budget. Here’s the lesson I learned: Now I know for next year to Amazon a 100 count of Christmas stocking stuffers. Hooray! I’m here to spread Christmas cheer and life hacks! And to remind you to hit up Dollar Tree in November, not the week school gets out.
Back to the reason we’re here today. We’re discussing ideas 11-15 of our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom. In episode 16 we talked about the hope of Jesus, episode 17 covers the peace of Jesus, and here we are in our third week of our advent mini series. Episode 18 is one of my favorite topics; the joy of Jesus.
If you’ve seen my Instagram page @BusyChristianMom, then you’ve seen a bright corner of the social media world. The joy of Jesus can radiate through you if you let it, and I love that we’re taking the time to focus on this during the advent season. So get your Christmas karaoke ready, and let’s sing “Joy to the World” together!
Idea 11: Read Matthew 1
Idea 11 of our 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to read Matthew 1. The first two weeks of our advent ideas focused on the birth of Jesus through Luke’s eyes. Luke is more of documentary style gospel, and being a physician, that makes total sense. Matthew is a former rich tax collector-turned redeemed, and presents an accurate history of Christ through the lens of Jesus as King.
As you read through Matthew 1, read through the lens of the joy of Jesus. In typical BCM fashion, I’m going to give you a Brooke Breakdown. And, per usual, I’m going to ask you to take 5 minutes and read it with your own holly jolly eyeballs at some point this week. Brooke Breakdown, here we go:
- Matthew lists the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah (already a shout out to Jesus as king).
- Don’t skip through the names! Remember, all of the Bible is in there on purpose, for a purpose. When you read it, you’ll recognize some names.
- Abraham shout out! Father Abraham had many sons, namely Isaac who also gets a shout out, and his son, Jacob, too (that guy who wrestled with God, and gave his son, Joseph, a colorful coat).
- Rahab gets a shout out! We talked about her, and how she saved her family in episode 7.
- Home girl Ruth and her hubs, Boaz, get shout outs, and we talked about them in episode 12
- David gets a shout out: arguably the great harpist in the history of the planet, slayed a giant, became king, and a man after God’s own heart
- Solomon gets a shout out. He’s arguably the wisest man in all the land
- The list goes on and then we get to Joseph and Mary.
Why all the call backs to these people? Well, one of the many reasons is that we just got to spend a couple minutes reflecting on how God worked through all these people. He knew every moving part, and made it all work together perfectly. How cool that they got individual shout outs. Guess what, YOU get a shout out too! God sees you and knows all about you. Check out the Identity Crisis mini series to deep dive into that (episodes 2-15).
But wait! There’s more to Matthew 1. The last few verses cover the birth of Jesus, but they have different details than we read in Luke 2. There’s dreams, angels, fiances and more.
Friendly reminder this takes only a few minutes to read, so swipe off of Candy Crush for a hot minute and open your YouVersion Bible app. If you’re reading aloud, have fun with the pronunciation of names. Just roll with, or you can always have your device read aloud to you.
Idea 12: Discuss Matthew 1
Now that you’ve read Matthew 1, idea 12 of our 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to discuss Matthew 1. It doesn’t have to be fancy, keep it casual and simple. I’ll give you a few discussion questions, and you can piggyback and tweak as desired.
There are a lot of right ways to do this. You can read the questions to your people before you read the chapter. Writing your answers in your journal may be a good option if you’re want to prepare ahead of your discussion. Point being, do what works for you in this season of life.
If you have a reluctant husband who’s not into it, pray about it, and ask God to open his heart and be receptive. Read to your kids in the main hub of the home, and discuss. You never know what they’ll pick up on, or chime in. Pray and ask for wisdom and guidance. Here are the discussion questions:
- What were the silliest/hardest to pronounce names? Who in the lineage stuck out to you? What can you remember about these people?
- What are specific reasons the people in Jesus’ ancestry can have joy in Jesus?
- Where in Joseph’s part of the story can you see joy and and the joy of Jesus?
- What are the similarities and differences between the birth of Jesus in Luke versus Matthew?
Idea 13 Prayer of Joy
As Christians, we can walk through life differently because we have the joy of Jesus. Joy is one of the byproducts of having the fruit of the spirit inside of us. We can live life joyfully because we know how the story ends, we know what the future holds, and we know where we stand with God. Idea 13 of our 20 Advent Ideas for the busy Christian mom is to say this prayer of joy.
Let’s take a moment to pray about joy. You can pray aloud with me, listen through as I pray over you, pause as needed, or take a few moments after and pray this over your family:
God, thank you for letting joy even be a part of our lives! Once again, you show us such a great kindness, and allow us to experience joy all around us. We can see joy in the smiling faces of carolers, with kids anticipating surprises, and with laughs around the table this season. We have joy because you are joy. You have given us the best present ever of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we remember all of the good you have done for us, let us radiate joy as we live out this week. Help us intentionally bring joy to others through our actions and words. Help us represent you well this week as we focus on the joy of Jesus.
Idea 14 Watch/Read/Listen to A Christmas Carol
We’ve read Matthew 1, discussed Matthew 1 and all those jazzy names, we’ve prayed about raditating the joy of Jesus, and now onto idea 14. Idea 14 of our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to watch, read, or listen to A Christmas Carol.
Yes, the book nerd within me really wants me to say read the Charles Dickens version, but I know our reality. You’ve got 17 class parties this week, and somehow you’re also trying to find 66 Christmas items for your children. Here are some ways to do idea 14. Choose which way works best for you and your people.
- Read the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- Listen to Scrooged on Apple Podcasts: it’s 4 episodes, and Sean Astin from Lord of the Rings plays Scrooge. The nerd in me is rejoicing for this.
- Watch it: So many versions from Jim Carey to Mickey Mouse. All of them are great, choose the one that works for your kids in this season
The more ways the merrier! I love all of these renditions of A Christmas Carol, so I’m likely to go through all these for funsies. Here’s what I love about this story. You can see a man go from death to life. Scrooge was toiling away at life and work, was full of himself, and had quite a few flaws. Finally, through some spooky encounters he realizes his folly. Scrooge turns from his ways, and lives a life of joy. Death to life.
Here’s the bigger deal. We are Scrooge in the story! Before following Christ, we’re lost, empty, no true joy. Then we realize what we’re missing. Jesus! We see that we are broken without him, need saving, and turn from our old ways to follow him. We walk in light because we have the joy of Jesus!
Idea 15 Spread Joy
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. Buddy the elf isn’t wrong here, but there are a ton of right ways to spread joy this holiday season. Singing carols is definitely one of them. I have a few groups of friends who have a holiday baking day, and they make tons of baked goods. They divide them up and give them as gifts.
Growing up, my parents started a tradition with us. It was the 12 Days of Christmas, and there was a fun countdown gift all the way until Christmas. It was so much fun to wake up each morning to 12 of something, then 11, and so on.
As we got older, our parents each let us choose a family to surprise each evening. We’d gather up gifts, sprint up to doors, put the gifts on the porch, and sprint off. It was ding dong ditch essentially, but with gifts (and no ringing of doorbells because we wanted to keep the surprise alive. On Christmas Eve, we’d reveal who we were. It was so much fun.
This year, we’ve started this with our kids, and we’ve selected families to do this for. Our kids are loving it. Y’all it doesn’t have to break the bank. 12 sticks of gum, 11 lollipops, etc… Simple and quick.
I realize we’re on 8 sleeps til Christmas, so you’re just going to have to keep this idea in your back pocket for next year, or tweak it and just do a 5 day countdown or something. The point is, spread joy! Discuss fun ideas with your family, and get out there and be a light that points back to the joy of Jesus.
Podcast Recap:
- Idea 11: Read Matthew 1
- Idea 12: Discuss Matthew 1
- Idea 13: Prayer of Joy
- Idea 14: A Christmas Carol
- Idea 15: Spread Joy
As followers of Christ, we have the opportunity to live with a noticeable difference in our demeanor. We can show the joy of Jesus by being positive, encouraging others, and pointing back to Him through our actions. He’s the one who has enabled us to experience joy in the first place. As you go through this week, make it a priority to focus on the joy of Jesus by doing these next few ideas from our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom.
CLICK TO LISTEN TO EP 19: The Love of Jesus
Can’t spell Christmas without l-o-v-e! That’s right! As we celebrate the advent season, we know that God loves us because He sent His one and only son to die on the cross to save us from our sins. He came down to do this for us, and He’s coming back again. Hallelujah!
This week’s focus of our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is the love of Jesus. If you’re looking for a not-so-secret sauce for your holiday dishes, try love, not that weird recipe from that long lost aunt that always has too much egg nog at the family gatherings.
When we add the love of Jesus to our recipes, actions, and thoughts, we reflect what God does for us. I know it’s almost Christmas, but good thing ideas 16-20 can be done before then.
Idea 16 Read Matthew 2
Idea 16 of the 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to read Matthew 2. As mentioned last week, we read Luke 1 & 2 through the lens of hope and peace. Last week, we talked about Matthew 1 through the lens of the joy of Jesus, and how there are noticeable similarities and differences between Luke’s perspective, and Matthew’s.
Today, we’re focusing Matthew 2 through the lens of the love of Jesus. Let’s have a Brooke Breakdown, and you’ll see some people we haven’t talked about yet:
- The wise men are in this chapter! They get to Jerusalem and asked ing Herod where the king of the Jews is.
- Remember crazy King Herod from Luke? He gets wind of this, and goes way crazy.
- He meets with the wise men to get all the details he can without looking too suspicious. Herod encourages the wise men to let him know when they find the baby…but for horrible reasons
- The wise men continue to follow the star, meet Jesus, and fall to their knees in worship.
- The first Christmas presents are given: gold, frankincense, and myrrh!
- After the gifting, the wise men were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they rerouted to head home a different way.
- An angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him to grab the family and go to Egypt because it turns out, Herod is a psychopath.
- Herod realizes he’s been outwitted by the wise men, shocker, and he flew off the handles. Herod orders a massacre of boys in Bethlehem ages two and under. He wants to be the only king ever. Horrible, horrible guy.
- More angel moments! Time passes and an angel appears to Joseph in another dream, and let’s him know it’s safe to go back home.
- Through a series of dreams and warnings, Joseph and family settle down in Nazareth.
So much happens in this chapter! Now that we know more about Horrible Herod, we can reflect back on all we’ve read with more clarity. Herod was awful, didn’t want to be dethroned, so he went psycho trying to make sure that didn’t happen. He did not get his way. You know who did? Yahweh!
Here’s what I love about this chapter. The wise man and Joseph listened and obeyed when they heard warnings. They didn’t second guess, and did exactly what was told. From what we’ve read in earlier weeks, we can sense that they’ve learned to trust when God says something it will happen.
This trust little by little over time, turns into full faith and trust in God. There’s a difference between knowing the truth, and experiencing the truth over and over again. God does what He says He’s going to do. That’s a podcast series all in itself, so I’ll cut that thought short for now.
Idea 17 Discuss Matthew 2
All right, it’s discussion time! Idea 17 of our 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to discuss Matthew 2. Your brain remembers better when discussion happens around reading and learning information. Don’t skip this part. The amazing thing about discussion is that we can learn from each other too. It’s not just better by double, it’s exponential! Here are a few discussion questions:
- What happened to King Herod? This is a silly callback from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever as suggested as idea 9, and the question holds legitimate value. This is an important question because it helps flesh out the timeline and first chunk of time of Jesus’ life.
- How does loving God manifest through trust and obedience? How did the wise men and Joseph show their love for God? This is loaded, so take your time on this one.
- What can we do to learn to trust and obey like the wise man and Joseph? What does that look like in our daily lives?
- How can we see the love of Jesus in this story?
Idea 18 Prayer of Love
We’ve read, we’ve discussed, so now, let’s chat with God about it. Idea 18 of our 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is this prayer of love. You can pray with me, pause as needed, write out what I’m praying, so many options for this moment of prayer. Let’s do this:
God, thank you so much for the gift of your love. You love us so much that you sent Jesus to Earth, to be born, raised, crucified, and risen. There is no greater love than what you have for us. Help us to remember this and not take it for granted. We know that once the Holy Spirit lives in us, the fruit of the spirit will follow. Love is one of the characteristics of this fruit. Let us us this powerful trait to show God’s love to others. Help our actions match our faith and trust in you. Show us areas where we need the light of love to shine. Thank you for being who you are and always being the consistent, unfailing love in our lives. We love you too!
Idea 19 Watch Journey to Bethlehem
It’s the final countdown! To Christmas that is. Idea 19 of our 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to watch Journey to Bethlehem. You can stream it right now on Netflix. I love this movie for so many reasons. First, it’s as accurate as possible with taking some cinematic liberties (like and book-turned-movie).
The actors are amazing, and you feel the full range of emotions throughout the movie. Plus, the music is fantastic. When the movie came out last year, we were quick to download the music album, and we play it throughout the year. Curretly, my kids are 8, 7, and 6, and still love it a year later.
If you have the tinier humans, I would suggest watching The Star. Same concept, but the story is told through the lens of the animals. What tiny human doesn’t love a talking donkey? Both movies are great, tell the nativity story, and point back to Jesus.
Idea 20 Model Love
We have an innate desire to be loved. It’s hardwired into our brains, and we have a longing to fill that hole. Good news! God fills that hole up and it overflows into our daily lives. Idea 20 of our 20 advent ideas for the busy Christian mom is to model love.
Have you heard of the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman? It’s a gerat read, extremely insightful, and will help you in your relationships. Essetianly, he says that love fits into a few categories:
- Acts of Service
- Words of Encouragement
- Reciving Gifts
- Quality Time
- Physical Touch
You can even take a quiz and it’ll rank these out for you. My top two tie with Quality Time and Physical touch, so holding hands and going on a walk with Morgan is the dream. Morgan’s top result is acts of service, so while we’re on the walk I’ll take the trash out as we walk down the driveway. All the wins!
So, once you can find out the love languages of people, you can love them well in that way. First, you don’t need to read that book or take that quiz to glean insight through observation. Second, to some degree, we all need all the love languages. When in doubt, a healthy mix of the love languages will do that. Here’s an example. Say your kid loves cookies:
- Acts of Service: You bake cookies for them, and then let them eat
- Words of Encouragement: Give them a cookie on a napkin with a sweet, handwritten note to them telling them something you love about them
- Receiving Gifts: Box up the cookies (or buy their favorite), put a bow on it, and give it to them
- Quality Time: Make cookies together, or eat cookies together
- Physical Touch: sit next to each other while enjoying a cookie
This is where you can get creative too. Mix and match your love languages, and provide a variety. You can even give options, “Would you like me to bake you some cookies today, or do you want to make them with me?” These types of questions can help point you in the right direction. Choose who you’d like to show love to, choose what you’d like to do to show that love, brainstorm how you’re going to show this love, and then go for it!
Wow! We just covered our final five of our 20 davent ideas for the busy Christian mom. Let’s recap them:
- Idea 21: Read Matthew 2
- Idea 22: Discuss Matthew 2
- Idea 23: Prayer of Love
- Idea 24: Journey to Bethlehem
- Idea 25: Model Love
Love covers everything. The love of Jesus is so much more than our brains can handle. As you walk through this week, do so with the love of Jesus shining brighter than the Rockefeller Christmas tree. Love is a choice. Honor His love by living it out through these 5 ideas of our 20 Advent ideas for the busy Christian mom.
Advent Mini Series Recap
This also concludes our 20 Advent Ideas for the Busy Christian Mom mini series! It’s practical, actionable, and fits your schedule. The goal is to help you, the busy Christian mom, find pockets of time to complete a manageable task that will help you grow closer to God.
- EP 16| 5 The Hope of Jesus
- EP 17| 5 The Peace of Jesus
- EP 18| 5 The Joy of Jesus
- EP 19| 5 The Love of Jesus
Be on the lookout for next year’s advent calendar that will focus on different topics, have different ideas, and will benefit you and your family. Also, make sure you’ve gotten your premier issue of Faithful and Festive: A Curated Christmas Catalog for Christians.
It’s packed with ideas, tips, recipes, articles, and more! You can get this catalog on the Busy Christian Mom Etsy shop. The link is in the show notes, or you can open your Etsy app, and search for Busy Christian Mom. Tune in next week for a brand new mini series!
Links from the Series
