Five… four… three… two… one…
Countdowns can be FUN.
I often use a countdown chain with my kids when we’re approaching a big event. I have them cut strips of paper (red and green for Christmas, yellow and orange for a beach vacation, etc), help them staple the strips in connected loops, and write numbers on them. Each night before bed they’ll take off one chain. As the chain gets shorter, their excitement gets bigger.
I’ve seen more and more events on social media using the countdown idea too. This weekend, a city near me is holding their annual Christmas craft sales, and with over 30 different venues participating, the event page on Facebook has been highlighting a few “stops” each day over the last month.
We are officially 25 days away from our AMAZING event starting on Friday, November 16th at 9:00am!! Who is ready!?!?!?!?! Make sure you make a stop at stop #……..
What is it about countdowns that makes them so much fun? I’m guessing it’s simply the way they keep an exciting event at the front of your mind. Every single day you’re reminded of what’s coming.
Advent and December calendars are a great way to build anticipation for Christmas. I was at the grocery store the other day and saw cheap candy calendars, cute felt ones with pockets, wooden trees with doors, and LEGO and toy-a-day calendars.
Did you know “Christmas” is a season in the church calendar that technically begins on Christmas Day? And the “12 Days of Christmas” actually come after December 25? (sorry 12 days of socks)
Advent is the season before Christmas, and is meant to be a time of anticipating, hoping, wishing, dreaming, and longing for what’s to come. December 25 begins the celebrating.
As I’m looking to lean into the liturgical calendar this year, I’m thinking about how I want to differentiate between these two seasons at the start of the church calendar. I want my kids (and myself!) to enjoy the counting down and the longing and looking ahead of Advent. But we will inevitably have parties and concerts and other “Christmas” celebrations put on our calendar for us, thanks to family and schools…
How do you countdown the days to Christmas?
Five Minute Friday is a weekly opportunity to simply write about one word for only five minutes, and link-up what you’ve written, to connect with other writers.
I also countdown using an Advent study the month of December. Counting down heightens the anticipation of our Lord’s arrival every year. This year I actually am doing an Advent study before December 1st as a pre-Advent study to get my heart prepared for my Advent devotional 🙂
Love this post; doing much in the way of preparation isn’t really possible here, but it doesn’t diminish the joy of the season.
#1 at FMF this week.
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2018/11/your-dying-spouse-540-i-didnt-come-this.html
Counting down til Christmas is a bit different – as an empty nester:) But I enjoy using an Advent devotional during my Bible time. Each year it is a new one (and I usually have to start a bit early looking for the right one each year) but they have been a tremendous blessing over the years.