The Week of Joy    

Light two purple candles: the candle of Hope, and the candle of Preparation. Light the candle of Joy, the pink candle.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.          Galatians 5:22-26

Mirror ornaments. As a family, draw Christmas tree ornaments with markers on the mirrors in your home. They can also make their to-do list on their own mirrors, or write a favorite scripture verse. The marker ink washes off easily. (Supplies: dry-erase markers in many colors)

Glitter Cross  Take a wooden cross obtained from a craft store. We did an eight inch cross; the wood must be wide enough for the bottle caps. Paint the cross (optional). Collect enough matching bottle caps to decorate the cross with then lined up vertically and horizontally. On newspaper place the bottle caps face down, and fill with glitter glue. Allow to dry. Glue caps to cross in line with shape of cross. Allow to dry. Loop piece of string on back and secure with glob of glue, or use picture-hanging hardware.     (Supplies: wooden cross, acrylic paint, bottle caps, glitter glue, two inch piece of string, craft glue)   

 Lord, we are thankful for the blessings you have given us. We know we are owed nothing, and we deserve nothing. It is by your grace that we were born into this life of abundance. Let us have compassion for those who were born into lesser circumstances than our own. Yet we know the true source of our bounty and wonder at all we have been given. We are truly blessed. Amen.

“Joy comes to us in moments-ordinary moments.  We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.”                   (Brene Brown, in Daring Greatly, Gotham Books, 2012.)

Click here for a printable Advent fun page December 16