First Week of Advent

It's the first week of Advent. Get excited! We decorated the inside of the house this weekend after a wonderful Thanksgiving in Dallas with our families. Taylor Joy keeps saying, "Mommy, Christmas is pretty."

On another note, Advent in the Duty home started yesterday. We are doing the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Since I can't do anything the traditional way, here's how our Advent looks.

Our calendar:




Made out of toilet paper rolls, scrapbook paper, ribbons and cute extras, I made this with my own two hands with love and excitement for the Advent season. I created an advent calendar detailing relevant scriptures, activities to do together and questions to discuss during family worship time. Each day will have it's appropriate page inside of the toilet paper roll. Thanks to all who donated rolls to our cause. Know that lovely pearls of wisdom are being stored in the place where your toilet paper hung. Now that's beautiful.

Our wreath:




Honestly, I just plain didn't like any of the Advent wreaths that I saw. So, I bought this wreath at Michael's and the candleholder as well (for the Christ candle) and then placed them all snugly inside. I decided to buy battery-operated candles for the candles so that Taylor Joy can help "light" them and so that we can leave them on all day.

Here are some scriptures to consider this week, the Prophecy Week:

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Psalm 62:5-6
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved. (KJV)

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful...

Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.

Isaiah 40:31
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Isaiah 11:1-2
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

John 15:4
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Jeremiah 23:5-6
"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD,
"When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.

"In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.'"

Ephesians 1:9-12
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Galatians 4:4-5
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Malachi 3:1
"Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 42:1, 5-6
Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.

Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,

"I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations. (NASB)

Isaiah 60:1-3,19-22
"Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

And, our Advent Cheatsheet:

Symbolism of the Advent Wreath

• The four candles represent the 4,000 years prior to Christ's coming and the four weeks of Advent.

• The unlighted candles represent the dark ages before Christ's coming.

• The lighted candles represent Christ, the Light of the World. Each week we light one more candle and that represents the idea that the coming of Christ is closer.

• The circular form of the wreath symbolizes that God has no beginning and no end.

• The green of the boughs indicates hope--just as the green of spring indicates new life.

• The word Advent means the coming of promise.