Faith at home – words from wick

For a long time now, the season of “Advent” (which means “arrival”) has helped Christians to prepare for the celebrations of a special worship service celebrating the birth of Christ. It includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas – with a special emphasis for each week. We believe many of these things can offer new opportunities for us to reorient our lives, our relationships, and our homes around anticipation of what Christ is doing even this year. With this in mind, we believe Advent can be an incredible season of prayer, celebration, conversation, and devotion as we prepare for Christmas. Here is an easy and tangible way to bring this season into your home:

Advent Wreath – Often seen in sanctuaries, but traditionally this was also done at home. You don’t need to make it look “churchy”, or even use the traditional colors (though you might find that fun too!). Any 4 candles (one for each week of Advent) and one central candle (for Christ) will work. If you have kids, feel free to invite them to help assemble a nice (non-flammable) display for the candles.

When? You might light the Advent wreath during a mealtime, family devotions, bedtime, or whenever it works out. Remember, it’s not a rigid discipline – but an invitation to reorient our moments & hearts.

What? Each time you’re able, light the appropriate candles and make time and space for each person to respond. Close the time of conversation in prayer, and for young kids especially – take turns blowing out the candles!

Week One: Light one candle, and focus on the word “HOPE”. What are you each hopeful for? What is something fun you’re hoping for? How can hope transform someone’s life? Where have you seen hope today/this week? READ Isaiah 7:10-14
Week Two: Light two candles, and focus on the word “PEACE”. What does peace feel like to you? Where is an area of your life/world that needs peace? Where have you seen peace today/this week? READ 2 Samuel 7:10-16
Week Three: Light three candles, and focus on the word “JOY”. What’s the difference between happiness and joy? What brings you joy? Where have you seen joy today/this week? READ Isaiah 61:4-11
Week Four:Light four candles, and focus on the word “LOVE”. What helps you feel loved? Who is someone you know who needs to experience love? Where have you seen or felt love today/this week? READ Isaiah 40:3-11
CHRISTMAS EVE/CHRISTMAS: Lighting all 4 surrounding candles and the 5^th “CHRIST” candle also. Why did God come as an infant? What message does that send us? If Jesus was sitting in your home today, why would He get excited that you have received Him? How will you respond? READ Luke 2:1-21

(Here’s a printable version of this same content, you can edit for your context!)

Okay friends, here’s a quick update and we need YOUR help getting the word out! We’re very close to needing to send our next payment in to help bring Phoebe home. Documents we’ve been waiting for over a year are finally being acquired! We’re so close to having the amount we need, but one more fundraiser will help tremendously!

Over a year ago, our daughters helped draw pictures to illustrate a poem I’d written about an imaginary land. We sold a small amount of physical copies of this book, and those who purchased it yelled “hooray!” Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to produce a physical book, and our profit margin was really really small.

So we’ve made the first book in a 3-book series available as an E-Book! The 2nd and 3rd books will be released eventually, based on how much response this first one gets. It’s a great book to help start conversations in your home about choosing to live simply, so that your family can be a blessing to others. It’s available RIGHT NOW for only $3.99!! Just go over the Amazon by clicking the picture below or this link!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support, and please help us out by forwarding this along to anyone who might be interested!!!