WHEN OUR CHILDREN WERE YOUNG I realized that there was a golden window of opportunity to capture our children’s hearts with the gospel in the days leading up to Christmas. As a young mom I wanted to make the most out of every opportunity to share Jesus with our children. Nativity sets were set up around the house and the children would play with them, acting out the story of Jesus’ birth. We had a family “advent service” every night in December in anticipation of the big event that was about to take place—Jesus’ birthday!
The anticipation of Christmas in our household grew increasingly thick with excitement with each passing day. Our children loved the stories of baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the angels, the wise men and the shepherds. It was obvious that we had an enthusiastic audience as we talked about how “the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.” We also noticed that our children had a LOT of questions: “What is a Savior?” “Why do we need to be saved?” We found ourselves back-filling the story every year, re- telling the story of the whole Bible (often in a hit-or-miss, hodge-podge way), as we tried to prepare our family for the great unveiling of baby Jesus on Christmas morning.
The Christmas story is loaded with exciting drama. But sometimes we treat the Christmas story as if it were an isolated event in the Bible. We’re missing out on the grand adventure and anticipation of discovery if we tell the Christmas story as if God came as a baby out of the blue. There is a dramatic backstory that leads up to God coming to earth in the flesh. Much like following the clues in a good mystery novel, we can follow the clues in the Bible about the coming Savior that lead us directly from the Garden of Eden to the manger in Bethlehem.
That’s why KT, Megan and I worked together to create the advent devotional Creation to the Cradle. I sure wish that we’d had a book like this when our children were young because it would have made it easier and more cohesive to share the WHOLE Christmas story with our family in an exciting and logical way. Creation to the Cradle makes it simple to explain the BIG story to our children, in a way that grabs (and holds) their attention. Day after day the story builds until the great culmination of Jesus’ birth.
Like you, I want our children and grandchildren to have a fascination fused with joyful fun as they discover and know the Lord personally. I want their lives to be a grand, personal adventure with Jesus! I hope that you are able to maximize your opportunity to meet Jesus with your family this Christmas season. One of our own children was saved during those family advent evenings long ago. I’m praying that you can use this advent tool to help transform your holidays into “holy-days” with your family as you take the exciting gospel journey from Creation to the Cradle.
Enjoy the discovery ... and have a joy-filled Christmas!
Judy Gerry
Creation to the Cradle is a simple advent devotional for families that brings the BIG story of Christmas to life. Geared toward children ages 2-9, the questions included for each day will help even the littlest ones understand how the ancient story relates their own lives. Daily devotions take only 5-10 minutes, and no prep work or materials are needed (although many families enjoy lighting a candle during their daily "advent service"). It’s our Christmas gift to you! Get a copy here. Or to save on shipping for our local Ventura County friends and listeners, send us an email at megan@livewhatmatters.org.