Christmas!
The Whole Story of the God who Loves
A Family Advent Book
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As the days have gotten cooler and the leaves have begun to fall, my mind has drifted off toward the Christmas Season. I know it won’t be too long, now, until houses are lit up and the carols are in the air. Christmas was always my mother’s favorite holiday and it quickly became mine as well. There is something joyous about the days leading up to this holiday which is filled with wonder and splendor.
Over the last few years my heart has become weary at the thought of this holiday which I have always loved. It seems it has become so overindulgent and commercialized. There is a heaviness to it – almost a burden. It seems we are told we have
to buy so much for our children – everything must be bigger and better than the last. I started to ask myself if we had become consumed with the material. Have we lost sight of the joy and the hope that this holiday symbolizes? So, we started buying less, we started giving away more – and yet it wasn’t enough. Last year, it dawned on me that what I needed was to focus more on Jesus during Christmas – tying in our celebrations to the love God has for us. I tried to find something my kids and I could study during advent but I just didn’t find the right fit. I found something for me – but not something for the kids. So the search continued until I stumbled across a brand new book called, “Christmas!” written by Natasha Metzler. It is an amazing story book for the whole family to enjoy and it’s comprised of a one page story for each day of advent. Each story has a theme and a story directly from the Bible as it weave the Old Testament in with the New to tell the of God’s grace and redemption for His people. It also features exquisite artwork opposite each story. This book seems to be the perfect fit – and just what I was looking for.
The author tells how the book came to be. “One year I set up an Advent calendar of Christmas activities, and started looking for an Advent book to share with my little charges the greatest love story of all eternity.
“Except, I couldn’t find just the right one. There were lots of books that were beautiful and interesting and would have been amazing, except they were all missing some element that I desperately desired.
— I needed a book that started at the beginning, that told the story from the moment God existed and nothing else did.
— I needed a book that was short and to-the-point, because these rambunctious boys were not going to stay focused for more than a few minutes.
— I needed a book that told the whole story– how Jesus was promised from the garden and everything we learn after that just pointed to Him.
So, what does any writer-of-a-woman do? I grabbed a composition notebook and pencil and a box of crayons, and made my own.”
Share with your little loved ones the Christmas story of the One who created Love itself. source
I’m so excited about this book and how easy it will be to incorporate into our family’s advent traditions. I hope you enjoy it, too! To purchase this book please click here.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.