Welcome Sandra Barela back for another guest post. Love, love, love her ideas! Be sure to enter for a chance to win another great prize at the end of the post.
Hello again reader friends!
I am back for part 2 of my take-over of Jennifer’s release of Wish Upon A Star (Thank you Jennifer for being so gracious!).
So today I want to share with you about a special tradition that we do each year in our home – Advent! Advent starts four Sundays prior to Christmas. Traditionally, we insert three purple and one pink candle around a green wreath. The white Christ Candle sits in the center. The first purple candle is lit the Sunday four weeks prior Christmas, and we continue to light it each day until the next Sunday. Then we light the 1st and 2nd candle each night for that week. We repeat with the 3rd and 4th candles until Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve we light all the candles along with the Christ candle and leave them until they burn out.
Each day after we light the candle(s), we read our Advent devotionals (two of them) and a book on traditions. We pray at the end of our devotion time and end with a fun book. When the kids were young, we did short books that we could finish in one sitting. As they have gotten older (they are all adults now but still living at home), we chose longer books. We even read A Christmas Carol a couple of years. We do these readings from that first Sunday through Epiphany which falls on January 6th.
Another tradition we have that goes along with Advent is our Nativity Set. We set up ours in a specific way. We have Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the angel in the same area for the first Sunday in Advent. Baby Jesus is not put in the manager until Christmas morning. Then we put the Wise Men off to the side as if they are coming to visit. On Epiphany, we move the Wise Men into the manger scene. To commemorate their visit, we read the story of their visit to Mary and Jesus, eat Rosca de Reyes Bread, and give a gift to each member in the family. All our decorations come down the next day.
It has been such a blessing to share some of our family traditions with you!
Fairy tales and wishing upon stars are for those who still believe in romance.
Sometimes misplaced trust injures more than ourselves, and doesn’t Elaina Hensley know it. When her oldest daughter is left suffering the consequences, Elaina vows to protect her girls at any cost. Nothing, not even her own happiness, will sway her again.
Or will it?
She’s got this protective self-denial down pat—right up to the moment her best friend’s brother arrives on the scene like a fairytale knight, vowing to slay all her dragons. She must—she will resist.
However, when her worst nightmare comes back to haunt her, Elaina has to admit she needs that white knight on her side.
For a chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a paperback edition of Wish Upon a Star (winner’s choice), click here. Ebook edition only for international winner. For a limited time, you can receive the ebook edition of Wish Upon a Star the special price of only $2.99. Grab your copy here. If you haven’t yet entered previous days’ giveaways, be sure to do so. Day 1 ($15 Amazon Gift Card), Day 2 (ebook edition of Saving Faith), Day 3 (ebook edition of All That Glitters) and Day 4 (ebook edition of Providence). All entries are open until November 18th. Winners will be announced on November 20th.
Comments 1
While I have always enjoyed Jennifer’s blog. I love that we also hear from Sandra. I really enjoy hearing how she and her family celebrate the Christmas season.