One of the Advent books I’ve been reading this year is The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.
It’s a walk through different stories in the Bible that point to the coming of the Messiah. There’s a Bible passage and a meditation on that passage.
The other book I’ve been reading this year is the 2018 Advent study from She Reads Truth. It’s a gorgeously put together study guide with recipes and wintery, Christmasy pictures. It also has a cross stitch pattern created specifically for this year.
Until the Son of God Appears focuses on the different roles of Jesus: Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, Mighty God, True Wisdom, Merciful Savior. This book simply has some passages from the Bible that goes with each day’s theme, two questions for thought, and some space for writing a prayer.
The Christmas meditation series I’ve been listening to every day for 2 weeks is Emily P. Freeman’s The Quiet Collection. Yes, I paid for it. Was it worth it? Oh yeah! If you’ve heard her podcast, The Next Right Thing, it’s reminiscent of that. Her voice is low and soothing and the music is peaceful. The Quiet Collection is maybe 5 minutes long and so incredibly focused on Jesus.
My most-played Christmas albums this year are Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson and Unto Us by JJ Heller.
One of my favorite Christmas podcasts this year has been Annie F. Downs’ yearly Christmas party episodes. Her podcast, That Sounds Fun, is a must-listen all year, but especially fun at Christmas-time. My other favorite podcast for Christmas episodes is The Bible Binge with Knox and Jamie. You may recognize these two if you listen to The Popcast. They take an interesting approach to Bible stories. They do their research, so it’s not just two people giving their opinions about stuff, and they have fun talking about characters and events from the Bible.
I found a fun Christmas Countdown app for my phone. It has a different little fun fact every day starting December 1 for its Advent calendar. It has photos to use as wallpaper if I want. It also has a countdown screen telling exactly how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds until Christmas.
I’ve baked gingersnaps, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, and peanut butter blossoms so far this month. And all of the cookies are gone. There will be some baking happening on Christmas Day.
I can’t begin to count how many Hallmark Christmas movies I’ve watched so far this year. My three favorites this year are: A Very Merry Mix-Up (thanks for the recommendation, Annie F. Downs), A Shoe Addict’s Christmas (seriously, watch this. It was awesome), and Entertaining Christmas (adorable, perfect story of a daughter coming out of her mom’s shadow).
Christmas movies I watch every year are: White Christmas, Elf, The Muppet’s Christmas Carol, Ernest Saves Christmas, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (yes, it has its crass moments, but I seriously resonate with the family holiday dysfunction), Home Alone 1 and 2, and Santa Claus 1 through 3.
I can’t end this post without telling you about the lovely holiday teas out there. The Republic of Tea has some wonderful ones: Dream by the Fire, Comfort and Joy, Sip and Be Merry, Hot Apple Cider Tea, and Tea of Good Tidings.
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