Preparing for Jesus - An Advent Wreath

I like to be prepared. I am a list maker. I fear the unknown. I need a plan.

With Christmas coming, I knew that I wanted to make another Advent Calender this year. I enjoy reading daily Scriptures and devotionals that help me prepare for Christmas, Christ's birth. 

It is much easier to prepare for the visible parts of Christmas. The decorations. The lights. The nativity (out of my two year old's reach because it does look like a toy). The wrapping of gifts ( also out of my two year old's reach). 

Preparing my heart and mind, though needed, often gets neglected. And so, I love taking the twenty four days before Christmas to read and ponder the miraculous birth of my Savior. 

Twenty five little match boxes hold my Scripture references. 

After emptying the boxes of their matches, I wrapped each sleeve in a bit of wrapping paper. 

On small pieces of paper, I wrote the day and coinciding Scripture. 

Then, I tucked the little packages into a lit wreath in my living room.  

I may end up using these little boxes each year. They can easily be re wrapped, filled with a tiny treat, or decorated more with bits of ribbon or string. 

This year, I will be reading Ann Voskamp's Unwrapping the Greatest Gift for my own Advent reading. 

We plan to work our way through the Jesus Storybook Bible as a family, since it is closer to Hudson's level. Each Bible story (even the Old Testament ones) point towards Jesus' arrival. I have enjoyed seeing the correlations myself. There are twenty five stories -including the Wisemen. It works perfectly to read one story each day of December. I love that Hudson recognizes baby Jesus this year. He does keep saying Baby Jesus is in a car seat instead of the manger, but in his two year old voice he says the name of Jesus so sweetly. 

I will always feel the "rush" the last week of November....Thanksgiving, shopping, Hudson's birthday...but I hope this Advent reading will help me to slow down and reflect. Christmas parties and crazy schedules fill the December days to come, but I want to make sure I am trying my best to get my heart in the right place. 

When a guest comes to my home, I like to make sure the house is clean, the floors are swept, the hall bathroom is ready and the snacks are prepared. I want to make sure my heart is prepared for the birth of Jesus. 

What are you doing to prepare for baby Jesus?