Solagratiamom Advent Event begins December 1st!!!

I want to live purposefully.  I want to experience December one day at a time, focused on the main event that reaches it's profound crescendo on December 25th.  I want to remove myself from the commercialism of Christmas that is our modern world's take on the Holiday, and try to bring it back to what is really important.  I want to shut my eyes to the glitter, flashes of color and stalking advertisements telling me about all that I must have to be complete.  I want to close my ears to the theologically incorrect songs that play unrelentingly, steering hearts away from Him.  I don't want to open gifts that can only bring satisfaction here and now, but rather declare to others the Gift that brings eternal satisfaction.  I don't want to open my mouth to shout at people who took my parking spot in a crowded mall, but rather to sing His praises.  I don't want to be rushed, hurried, harried but rather peaceful, purposeful and prayerful.  My challenge to you is to figure out how you too can shut out the noise that the world calls Christmas and live purposefully, focused on what Christmas really means to us who Believe.

It is especially important to me that I help my children unwrap the awesome reality that Christmas is.  "for God so loved the world..." He made a way of salvation for all to see if they but look, really look at what Christmas is all about.  My purpose this year is to help my children do just that - look, really look and see what God has prepared for them - this awesome Gift.  Thanksgiving is a great preparation for December, really.  It is a time to focus on God's character, provisions and blessings.  It's a way of preparing the heart to go deeper with Him this Christmas season.

(If you want to see what we did last year to focus in you can click Christmas 2012)

In just two more days I am going to kick off my celebration of Advent and the start of this purposeful December and I hope you will join me!

ADVENT.....
To start, I wanted to better understand the word Advent so I looked it up.  It is derived from the Latin, and since we're all Latin students at CC, I thought I would share what I found online at www.etymonline.com!

advent (n.) 

"important arrival," 1742, an extended sense of Advent "season before Christmas" (Old English), from Latin adventus "a coming, approach, arrival," in Church Latin "the coming of the Savior," from past participle stem of advenire "arrive, come to," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + venire "to come" (see venue). 

To kick off your Advent - I would really recommend preparing to do a Jesse tree with your kids.  I read a fantastic book to better help me gain a deeper perspective on Advent through the Jesse tree by Ann Voskamp called The Greatest Gift.  I'd highly, highly recommend it!  You can purchase it by clicking below.  A cool sidebar is that you can print off all the Jesse tree ornaments from her website with the code you are given in the book.  This is what we're using this year for our Jesse tree.

The Greatest Gift: An Advent Devotional By Ann Voskamp / Tyndale House Out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot--yes, a new branch bearing fruit from the old root...In that day the heir to David's throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to Him, and the land where He lives will be a glorious place. Isaiah 11:1, 10 The nativity story didn't start with a journey to Bethlehem, an emperor's decree, or a virgin conception---it began with Adam! Exploring the lineage of Jesus through the Advent tradition of the Jesse tree, Voskamp retraces the epic pageantry of mankind from Genesis to God's greatest gift---his Son. A timeless reminder of the true meaning of Christmas! With your purchase of The Greatest Gift, you'll be given access to an online resource where you can print out the 27 beautiful Jesse Tree ornaments featured in the book.

On the heels of Thanksgiving another great book I love by Ann is her One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are By Ann Voskamp / Zondervan Discover a way of seeing that opens your eyes to everyday amazing grace, a way of living that is fully alive, and a way of experiencing the constant presence of God that will bring you deep and lasting joy. There is purity in simplicity and a breathtaking beauty that can be found even in life's slightest details. Ann Voskamp welcomes you in to explore her grace-bathed life of farming, parenting and writing and encourages you to draw nearer to Him and experience your own life in a deeper way, no matter where you are. Renew your appreciation for the beauty that permeates all creation with the wisdom-soaked pages of this Christian Living treasure.

Now to the details.... 

Solagratiamom Advent Event 

I will host 7 different giveaways throughout December starting December 1st with the latest copy of the Teaching Plan for Weeks 13-24 (which is also available now for purchase to complete your 2nd half of the CC year!) as well as fun stuff from my favorite friends like Wisdom and Righteousness, ecojot, Professor Noggin, Warfare by Duct Tape, Christian Perspectives, Classical Copywork!  I will also post daily as I walk through the Advent with you, sharing what we do each day of Advent via activities, crafts and projects!

It is my prayer to inspire you to carve out this coming month to focus on our precious Savior and Lord allowing Him to be your focus and the focus of your family!  Experience December like perhaps you never have before...purposeful, intently looking at the true Gift and Gift Giver -one day at a time.

Christmas Devotional - GIVEAWAY!!!

I am excited to give away one copy of this Christmas devotional by Katherine Loop entitled The Promised One.  As you probably realize by now, I really enjoy Katherine's perspective on teaching Biblical math and I have also really enjoyed her Devotional books she's put together for the Holidays. They are a terrific springboard for further discussion (and I have even been able to tie into mathematical concepts at times during our conversations - I'm sure Katherine would be proud - haha)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This kids devotion book for the Christmas holidays begins December 1st and goes until Christmas.  My daughter and I have been doing the Thanksgiving devotional (see previous post) and my daughter loves it!  She enjoys coloring the pictures and drawing as I read and we talk about the topic.  These devotionals have just enough theological truth to convey what you'd want your child to understand about God without being too deep for the younger ones to understand as well.  Below is a sample of one day's Devotional.....

Here is a page from Sarah's Thanksgiving devotional we've been doing.....

Year 2 Week 12 - Create Your Own Spacecraft and Astronauts

CC Cycle 2 Week 12         Create Your Own Spacecraft and Astronauts

Today for Wonderful Wednesdays we explored space further, expounding on astronauts and their space missions.  I had two books that had lots of good pictures of astronauts and spacecrafts.  I also read excerpts from an interview with a NASA scientist concerning astronauts to them.

Year 2 Week 11 - Other Space Bodies and Marie Antoinette!

Cycle 2            Week 11                              Other Space Bodies and Marie Antoinette!

Today we focused our project on enriching our science memory work.  I created a project that would help them remember what those other space bodies were using the Everything You Need to Know About Science book as my reference for my information we would be labeling/covering.  I especially wanted them to know the differences between those elusive terms - meteoroid, meteor, meteorite!

Giving Thanks - FREE Printable - Family Thankful Jar

GIVING THANKS....NOVEMBER 2013

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE
once you click on the above button, then click on the upper right blue Download button for Dropbox.

As Thanksgiving approaches and we are fully in the swing of November, it causes my heart to reflect upon what I really want this month to be about for my family.  It's a time to be thankful for what we have and an extended opportunity to give to those around us in both our communities and the world.  However, for me the focus goes inward - right to the heart...

I want my children to be thankful in adversity as well as comfort.  To view the difficult things in their lives as opportunities - where God is molding them and training them.  I don't want them to shrink from adversity, but rather, give thanks in the midst of it.  Let's face it, most of life is filled with some level of adversity, not many get a free pass.  The great discontent is in waiting for the world to be "fair" and everything to be "good" so you can be "thankful".  I look to the Scriptures in Acts 16 and I see Paul suffering, yet rejoicing and trying to teach us the same.  I see Silas joining in the refrain.  I see a Jailer moved to salvation, I see a whole household saved - it's supernatural to rejoice in such adversity, it's a strong testament.  Thankfulness is a mindset, not a set of favorable circumstances.  The unregenerate heart is drawn to despair - not rejoice - during trial.  This gives us a beautiful opportunity to show Christ to an unsaved world when we too meet with difficulties.

Teaching our children to give thanks in difficulty is a gift you can give them.  Whether that difficulty is simple like a disappointing experience with a sports team or complex like a newly diagnosed parent with cancer or life long, like a father that has left a family or a special needs sibling.  Regardless, we can teach our children what we know to be true in order to be able to give thanks in the midst of any and all circumstances...that God is good, He loves us, we were made to bring Him glory and He has a plan for our lives.  God commands us to "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."   So don't just give thanks this Thanksgiving with your children on November 28th, teach them the principles of thankfulness everyday and in every circumstance - especially those circumstances that cause our flesh to recoil and not naturally want to give thanks.

A great way to begin teaching your children to be thankful in all things is to teach them the Character of God.  We are doing the November Devotion by Katherine Loop:

CLICK HERE

We are also doing something that I made this year and have done in years past, called a Thankful Jar.  I have provided the link to download and do a Thankful Jar with your own children/family if you would like to join us this year.  Perhaps you can even encourage your children to write down some difficulties that they have encountered, to add to the Thankful Jar this year.  

included in above download are instructions for making your own Thankful Jar.