Terri Kirn posted this statement recently on Facebook: “[We] just celebrated the first night of advent with my family. "Candles" is the one tradition our family has established and maintained for many years, and it is by far the most meaningful 20 minutes per evening we could possibly spend.”

She was asked to explain the tradition:

“We gather at the kitchen table with as few lights on as possible (often just the Christmas tree, once it is up). One of us lights the candle, one reads the Scripture that accompanies the reading from our church's advent devotional booklet, then one of us reads the devotional. Then we sing some carols - we each have a hymnal now, so we don't argue as much about the words as we used to. After we've sung a few carols, sometimes ending in fits of laughter, whoever is left offers a prayer for us. With my schedule, it's hard for us to do it every night, but we try very hard. It is a VERY big thing to our kids. Sometimes it only lasts for 4 or 5 minutes. For 2 years, we managed to do it every night. I tear up now quite often as I look across the table and see my little kids who struggled to read the devotionals and didn't know the words to the carols. I think (and hope) it is a tradition our kids will carry on with their own families some day. It is so refreshing to take that little bit of family break during this time of year.”

How does your family use the Advent Devotional Booklet? What Advent traditions do you have in your family? Let us know!