Just for Women Wednesdays- The Discipline of Advent

I don't want Christmas to ever feel rushed inside my home. I don't want a sense of frazzledness to be the memorable feeling felt at Christmas and the main memory I remember or my husband and son remember when we think about the Christmas' past.  The greatest gift as a woman you can give to others (including your family) during this season of remembrance is keeping things simple and staying disciplined to prepare your heart for Christmas.

I asked the question, "How can I make Christmas memorable in my home?" When our son was two and a half, our family started the tradition of Advent. I sadly regret my husband and I never celebrated Advent before our son was born. Even if your children are grown or you are a single adult, reading the Advent, meditating on Scripture and celebrating the birth of Christ can prepare your heart for Christmas.

Growing up as a Southern Baptist, I don't remember celebrating advent. I remember counting down to Christmas, but I didn't remember reading daily Scripture, just the account of Christ's birth.

What a difference it is making inside our home as well as in our hearts, especially my own heart. One thing that stands out in my mind is the discipline of Advent. It sounds good to do it. But I won't lie. It's work. It's time and energy and effort. You have to be deliberate and commit to doing it every day to truly experience and prepare your heart for Christmas. It's ok to miss a day, but if you let another day go by, you may miss a week and then another. Keeping Advent inside the home and making the most of it begins when you don't let it slip away from you. It is staying committed despite how you feel on a certain day. The obedience to honor Christ will bring about a blessing inside your heart and home. That's why I am posting it here.

Today's reading comes from Genesis 3:8-15.

As I read this passage to my son. All he heard was a bunch of words. I had to simplify them and teach him that Adam and Eve's disobedience to keep God's Word brought about sin into the world and therefore that's why Jesus came- to make a way for us to know God again.

Genesis 3:15 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible:

" And I will put enmity
   between you and the woman,
   and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
   and you will strike his heel.”

What is so special about Genesis 3:15? It's the promise of a savior. The promise of salvation. The promise of victory for the believer. It's the reason we have joy. The reason we have hope. The reason we have new life in our hearts. The reason we can trust God- because HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES!!! (Hebrews 6:17-19)
This is the reason for Christmas. The promise at the beginning of the Bible was delivered through the birth, life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 I pray you will make time for Advent. Learn more about it. Commit to it not just to commit to another thing, but to commit to it because you are making time to worship Almighty God. He is worthy of our worship!