Ministry Minute and The Parenting Place--Advent Week 1

Well, Advent Night 1 is in the books at the Bryant household.  Tonight we gathered around the Advent Wreath to sing our traditional Light One Candle song, while we lit candle number 1 for LOVE.  We usually do our weekly Advent devotions on Sunday nights, but you can choose a day and time that works best for your family.  Tucker, our oldest, read aloud from Luke 1 about the GIFT of the coming Messiah.  Tate also read from John 3:16&17, about God's GIFT of LOVE--Jesus Christ!

After reading, we went around in a circle, and each family member shared something they loved about the person on their right and left.  Side note:  Video these moments--they will be precious family memories!  Kids around our house also LOVE opening GIFTS, so as scandalous as it is, each kid got to open 1 present from under the Christmas tree.  ;-) What did they get?  Erector sets for the boys and a new Barbie for sweet Sadie!

We made a special LOVE-themed snack--heart shaped sugar cookies.

Lastly, family craft time...always a hoot and a family favorite.  We used GIFT wrap to cut out heart shapes for tonight's theme of LOVE.  We then Mod Podged these onto cardboard.  Once they dried we cut them out and hung with green ribbon on our Advent Tree.  We made our Advent Tree using simple sticks from the yard and an old glass vase.  We decorated this "Charlie Brown" homemade tree with ribbons and garland and placed it in our dining room.

Hope these ideas help inspire you to carve out your own special family time this month!  God bless!  Shannon :-)