Creating Traditions - Advent Dinner Guide
I’ll never forget the year we floated a birthday cake down the creek in my grandparent’s back yard as we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. The only problem was there was no current, so my dad ended up in waders pushing it down the creek, which was honestly more of a drainage ditch. Even though it didn’t quite go as planned, it is such a fun memory we talk about today!
My Mimi and Pop were the best at creating family traditions. Whether it was painting sweatshirts, crafting wreaths, making paper bag angels, or baking cookies, Mimi was always trying to make anything and everything special. She looked for unique ways to celebrate God’s goodness and her creative side blessed our whole family.
I realize now that these traditions were like tiny deposits in a bank account of family unity. They instilled a sense of belonging and security in us we couldn’t appreciate until we were older. As a mom of 5 now, I am even more grateful for their time, thought, and intentionality.
As I am now carrying on some of these traditions and even creating some of my own, I know my Mimi is smiling down from heaven, and it also helps her legacy live on in me. That makes me happy and gives me hope that all the celebratory moments I plan with my kids will add up to a meaningful legacy left when I am gone.
A Wholehearted Advent was birthed in 2020. Amidst the craziness of that year, I wanted to use my gifts of creativity and love for Jesus to bless others and help them to begin their own traditions as well as to draw near to His heart. 2020 was a year I think most of us realized deeply what was REALLY important to us, and I wanted to make sure the Advent season especially reflected that.
If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume that you are IN and ready to participate!
The first tradition I want to guide you through is an Advent Dinner. This is traditionally hosted on the first Sunday of Advent, which is Nov 27, 2022 this year so mark your calendars! My grandparents always had ALL 1 1 grandkids over for dinner each year to kick off the Advent season. We dressed up for this dinner, and my grandmother pulled out all her china. Each grandchild was assigned a role in the nativity story. Before we ate, we took turns reading/playing out our part. What this dinner did for my heart was that it signified the beginning of a season and also pointed me toward the focus of that season - JESUS.
Today our Advent dinner looks like my family of 7 cooking a fancy meal, setting the table with Christmas China, lighting the first Advent Candle, and reading the story of the birth of Jesus. It’s a way to prepare our hearts to receive from Him all season long and a way to show our children that Jesus is the ONLY reason we celebrate and the ONLY reason we have HOPE.
If you’d like to host your own Advent dinner, you can grab my guide right here. Make it your own, invite friends, and cook something special to you. Whatever you do, or however you do. it, I pray that He will bless your time, effort, and your heart with a nearness to Him!
If you’d like to host your own Advent dinner, you can grab my guide right here.
Make it your own, invite friends, and cook something delicious. I pray that He will bless your time, effort, and your heart with nearness to Him!
Follow my account on Instagram - @the.real.abbywarren for more info, ideas, and inspiration as I’ll share my family’s journey through a Wholehearted Advent!