Just exactly how do you prepare your heart for Christmas? Should you be doing things that are special to this time of year? Or perhaps these are steps you should take all year long to keep your heart open to Christ?
Where to Start When Preparing Your Heart for Christmas
I questioned myself: What do I have to say about how to prepare my heart for Christmas? What steps should we take in our own home during this holy season? Not knowing where to start, I turned to the internet. AI provided some ideas:
- Read the Christmas story
- Spend time with God’s Word
- Create an Advent calendar
- Listen to Christmas music
- Listen to Christ-centered music
- Enjoy God’s creation
- Praise God
- Be humble
- Volunteer
- Pray
What a great collection of examples and ideas! And of course my own search led to specific posts, articles, and ideas including video and music. So when seeking to prepare this holiday season, don’t be afraid to start with technology. It’s all a matter of how we use resources and apply them to our lives. Technological tools can help us grow closer to Christ and prepare our hearts for the holy season celebrating His birth.
Favorite Advent-Themed Resources
The Giving Manger
Bring a new tradition into your house as you volunteer during the holiday season with The Giving Manger. This unique resource shifts the focus back to giving during the Christmas season. The Giving Manger picture book introduces the idea and helps you start your own new family tradition to prepare your hearts for Christ.
Chocolate Calendars
Does your family enjoy the chocolate-themed Advent calendars? Supposedly they started in the 1950s, and then in 1971 Cadbury began commercially producing them. I have fond memories of my grandparents buying me one each year when I was small. It paired nicely with the Advent calendar where we flipped open scenes toward the birth of Jesus. And of course there are many more commercial versions now that have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com Holiday Resources
One of my favorite places on SchoolhouseTeachers.com is the Holiday and Seasonal Resources Center. I love looking for videos, worksheets, games, and more to go along with holidays throughout the whole year. So when Christmas comes around, I head there to find favorites and new activities for our homeschool. There are videos, daily writing prompts, art lessons, and more to include for the month of December.
Reading Plan
Spend some time learning more about Christ using Twelve Names of Christ for Christmas Bible Reading Plan from The Old Schoolhouse®. Spend twelve days focusing on the twelve names of Christ including The Lamb of God and The Light of the World.
Scriptures to Prepare Your Heart
The most obvious place to start when preparing your heart for Christmas is the Gospels. Start with the birth of Jesus. Share those chapters with your children over lunch or at bedtime. Make reading them in their entirety a Christmas tradition.
Looking for more Scripture that presents God’s perfect gift—the gift of His Son—to us? Read through these quotes to help find peace, slow down and find rest, and seek God’s gift every day.
- “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
- “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
- “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)
- “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
- “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
How will you engage with Scripture this season to help prepare your heart for Christmas? Be sure to involve your children as you seek peace and slow down to share your appreciation of God’s gift to us. So don’t ditch all those fun plans you have made or want to make. Enjoy the Christmas concert, family parties and dinners, and shopping for the perfect gift, but leave plenty of room for Christ this Christmas.
HomeschoolingFinds.com Author
This article has been written by Kristen Heider. She is the Business Building Team Manager and the Social Media Manager of The Old Schoolhouse®. She shares more about her family’s homeschooling journey at A Mom’s Quest Teach.