Ministry Minute and the Parenting Place--Advent Week 4

The last week of Advent already!  It has been so fun this year, since I have been able to do Advent with my Children's Church kids as well as our own personal family.  The word for this last week was PEACE.  We began by singing, "Light one candle for peace, one bright candle for peace.  He brings peace to everyone, He comes, He comes."  We focused on the story of the wise men and their search for the newborn king.

Tucker and Tate read aloud from Matthew 2:1-12.  Then we shared as a family about times when we especially needed God's peace in 2011.  Examples included times of sickness for family members, when our 6th grader started middle school this year, etc.  We also prayed for the Lord's peace in the days to come as we prepare to enter 2012.  We pray His precious peace for your families as well!

Our nightly craft was to use simple drinking straws and a hot glue gun to make star ornaments for our Advent tree.  We added string at the top with which to hang them.   

Here is a snapshot of our completed Advent tree for this year!

After the crafting fun we had a snack of toast and hot chocolate.  We used a star cookie cutter for our toast and sipped our hot chocolate with some of the leftover straws from our crafting project.

After blowing out the candles on our Advent wreath, it was time to open the last Advent gifts.  The boys got new nutcrackers for their collection, and Sadie opened a princess cup and plate set.  

May the Prince of Peace be with you as we finish out the month of December!