Advent season is a beautiful time for preparing our hearts for the arrival of Jesus. Teaching our children to wait expectantly is a wonderful gift. I love the idea of helping my boys get excited over the birth of Jesus. His life, death, resurrection, and when He comes again all build on this first act of absolute true love. God sent His only begotten Son as a vulnerable and tiny baby. A Gift so that we might live in the presence of Yaweh for eternity. How amazing is that?!?
*Disclosure: I received a free copy of A Star for Me from Tommy Nelson for review purposes. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review. All opinions are honest and my own.*
A Star for Me chronicles the journey of Ollie the camel (acted out in our house byJoshua the camel from VeggieTales Drummer Boy) and his family as they follow a bright new star across the land in hopes of finding a gift. Along the way, Ollie wonders again and again if this gift is for him, if it will be wrapped in bows, what sort of awesome present has God sent to him? All the while Ollie’s parents gently nudging him that perhaps this gift is for all of us.
As Ollie travels, he counts some of his own blessings. When they finally arrive in Bethlehem, Ollie realizes that Jesus is the best blessing of all and that
“God sent Jesus for everyone, right where they are.”
In addition to being a sweet story, A Star for Me is beautifully illustrated and comes with a sweet star ornament for your child to hang on your tree. All of Ollie’s wonderings about gifts also gave us a great opportunity to check our “wanters” with our We Choose Virtues system. This is a great book for Advent and Christmas. *If you are a stickler for following the actual Bible timeline, this book does have the Magi arriving at the stable, so be aware of that.*
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We do not have a tradition but would like to start one.
We love our Jesse Tree variation, it’s a big hit with the kids.
We have an advent calendar. Each day my son gets a piece of chocolate and a slip of paper that has our bible verses for the day. He looks forward to doing this each day.
We have a countdown to Christmas advent calendar – each day we put up the figure. I made little slips of paper for each day with a prayer focus on them – so every day we pray for someone.
We love our Jesse Tree!