What do y’all read with your families during the holiday season? We’ve got a list of favorite stories and picture books (our sons are all under 8 at this point), and my husband has a general plan for scripture readings, but I’m always interested to know what others are doing.
In past years, our Bible readings have gone like this for the four Sundays of Advent and then Christmas Day:
-creation & fall
-promise to Abraham
-David wants to build God a house, but God will build him a house
-Zechariah
-the nativity story
My husband says he’s thinking of including more from the minor prophets this year; more about Christ’s kingship and future judgement.
I’d love to hear answers to this, also. In the moment, right after dinner when all the kids are squirming in the their seats and babies are crying, etc, I need a plan that I don’t have to think about, but can just open up and read. Growing up, my family used to have advent calendars that we read from each night. I’m not at all opposed to them now, but my wife and I haven’t really used those much.
So, @per.ardua, do you just have a list of scriptures that you guys read from, then?
It’s tough at times to get them all settled down to listen, but we try to keep it short-ish. And we don’t have a reading every night, only on Sundays, unless Alexander is just particularly inspired.
He’s chosen passages that will tell the story with the focus he wants, so we light the candle(s), he reads, we sing an Advent hymn, and have a little dessert or treat of some kind. Something like that. He will sometimes explain bits of the passage or make connections more clear.
Oh, we read about Herod and the wise men on Epiphany, too.
We don’t have any devotional readings otherwise, although I did pick up God Rest Ye Merry when it was free on Kindle this week. I might read those myself.
We use an advent devotional with our kids through the Christmas season. There is a reading each day and an ornament that goes with it that they can open as well. I know that the ornaments are made to be able to print yourself and if anyone is interested, I can try and get the link to that file, but the reading is really good as a stand alone too for kids.
I should add that we have also used it for the past couple years. I’m always on the lookout for new stuff, tho. And I agree with Joseph: some of them are too long.
