Advent Calendar

Last fall I attended a ministry series for mothers, called Mothers of Many Seasons, at our church. The entire series was fantastic, but there is one particular day that really stuck out for me. Near the end of the semester, our Titus moms (leaders) each shared some of their favorite Christmas traditions with our group. One of the wonderful ladies, Ms. Jackie, told us about this amazing advent calendar her family had used for many years and passed to her daughter to use with her own children. Ms. Jackie was kind enough to provide instructions for us to be able to make our own calendars, and I knew right away that I wanted to make one for our family. So I picked up a packet and stashed it away for almost a year.

Now the Christmas season is quickly approaching, and I've had a vivid image of Ms. Jackie's calendar in my head for several weeks. I dug out my instruction packet and made a trip to the craft store. I do not know my way around a craft store - craft projects are just not my thing. I had to ask a lot of questions of the staff at the store, but I managed to round up all the supplies. I knew I was in way over my head, but I came home and got started right away. The whole project was very simple, although cutting out the felt shapes was a bit tedious because there were so many of them. Lily helped with a little bit of the cutting and gluing throughout the project, and Grandma Dixie helped a whole lot - thank you Dixie!

I think it turned out beautifully, and now we have an Advent calendar with special messages and symbols for God's love for us for the 25 days leading up to and including Christmas. For each day, there is a pocket that contains a slip of paper with the explanation for the felt ornament that's also in the pocket. You read the explanation and put the ornament on the tree. All of the ornaments have a special meaning, helping us to keep our focus on Jesus during the Christmas season. Each message also includes scripture to read for the day.

I can't wait to get the calendar hung up and start using it on December 1st! I only have one question... Where exactly does one hang a 4' x 2 1/2' calendar? I want it to be easily accessible so we can use it each day, but I don't want Lily and Dylan to play with it or pick at the felt. They won't try to hurt it, but little kids can be rough on things, and I'm hoping this calendar will last a very long time. We'll see where it makes its appearance in our holiday decor in just a couple weeks!