The Joy of Advent: Family Celebrations for Advent & the Twelve Days of Christmas

by Rebecca Grabill, Stephen Grabill, Clare Therese Gray

"One thing I know for This will be a book that gets passed down through the generations."—Catholic Mom
The Joy of Advent  is an easy, guided celebration of Advent and Christmas for any family that hopes to bring richness and meaning into the holiday season.
From Advent through Epiphany, activities for all ages including daily Bible readings, reflections, songs, and prayers, provide a guided celebration that will infuse depth and delight throughout the Advent and Christmastide season. The Joy of Advent gives families the opportunity to come together and focus their hearts on the scarlet thread of Christmas—the story of God's love through the history of salvation—to create poignant memories and beloved traditions.
Readers

Create meaningful traditions and activities that family members will enjoy year after year.Experience companionship through accessible readings and thoughtful reflections.Appreciate the amazing story of God's redemptive work in the world.Have every day moments transformed into lasting memories of rich spiritual significance.Extend the celebration of Christmas through the full Twelve Days of Christmas. Features of The Joy of Advent:
• PERFECT GIFT for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany celebrations, and St. Nicolas exchange.
• TIMELESSLY CLASSIC With a beautifully ageless, full-color, holiday design, this family activity book is perfect for decorating a coffee table or bookshelf, and the sturdy hardcover package ensures durability.
• DESIGNED FOR FAMILIES WITH This book includes family devotions and reflection questions for different age levels, and activities the whole family can enjoy together.

For FREE RESOURCES and Additional Activities joyofadvent.com 

Genres: Christmas, Parenting

Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2024

About the author

Greetings, fellow readers! I've been writing since childhood, my first book about a kitten published between homemade cardboard covers in second grade. Although I studied religion and philosophy in university, I continued writing, earning an MFA from Hamline University and publishing multiple picture books (no longer with homemade covers), a multi-age Advent Celebration, and a collection of poetry with a variety of New York and independent publishers. I've also published a wide array of fiction, essays, and poetry in magazines and journals and photograph for Getty Images. I balance writing with homeschooling the younger of my six children, launching my young adults, church activities, and overseeing a small flock of chickens in rural West Michigan.

I hope you enjoy my books!

Ps. I love to share crafts and activities on my website.

Reviews

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blessed to read a pre release copy of this book. It has something for all ages of-99. The history, the activities and scripture connections flow so beautifully together. An unexpected bonus are the crafts and the hymns. I’m sad I did not have this when my children were little, but looking forward to starting new traditions. Super excited and counting down the days to Advent!

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: Daily readings, reflections, activities guiding families to create meaningful Advent and Christmastide traditions.

For many of us, our Christmas celebrations may involve some Christmas music, lighting Advent candles, Christmas Eve and Day festivities…and then the after Christmas sales. Historically, the church’s celebration has been far richer beginning the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This begins the season of Advent, preparation for our Lord’s coming. Then on Christmas Eve and Day, Advent gives way to Christmastide, twelve days of celebration that concludes with the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, celebrating the coming of the Magi.

Rebecca and Stephen Graybill felt their own Advent and Christmastide celebrations lacking. Over the years. they developed family practices and traditions, which they have gathered into The Joy of Advent, delightfully illustrated by Claire Therese Gray. The book consists of daily readings reflections, and resources for family celebrations.

Beginning on December 1, the book offers daily resources through Epiphany. In addition, when special feast days coincide, they provide special readings and delightful activities to celebrate. For example, on St. Nicholas Day, (December 6), they include background on Saint Nicholas. Then they offer instructions on the tradition of the shoes, filling up shoes from each family member with treats. Also, they introduce us to St. Nicholas letters.

One activity that runs through each day is decorating a Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is inspired by the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1 about the shoot that will grow from the stump of Jesse. It can be any small tree on which you can hang hand made or drawn ornaments of images from the day’s reading. Printable ornaments are also available at their website: https://www.joyofadvent.com/.

For each day, a scripture and personal reflection are provided on the first page, suitable for teens and adults. Following this. the second page offers a focus verse and description of the Jesse Tree symbol. With young children, this may be all you do. Then the third page offers a song (you might pull up the video on YouTube ahead), a family reflection, and several discussion questions. Finally, the fourth page offers a prayer appropriate to the reading of the day.

Over the course of the readings, we trace the scarlet thread of Christ’s redemptive work through scripture. Instead of just a mish-mash of Bible stories, we get to walk through the great story of God’s saving work.

I was impressed with the diversity of feast day activities that included recipes, such as Moravian Spritz cookies, and a variety of crafts. For St. Stephen’s Day, families assemble care packages for neighbors, shut-ins, and even college students!

If you want to enrich your observance of Advent and Christmastide, The Joy of Advent is a great resource. Printed on quality paper, graphically attractive, and substantively written, this may serve you for many years. In addition, it is flexible for use by families of all ages and stages. Advent begins in just over a month. So this is a good time to order the book and discover for yourself the joy of Advent.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

[Michele Morin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca and Stephen Grabill have provided something for every member of the family in this warmly illustrated and creatively framed celebration of Advent. Each day of Advent and Christmastide through Epiphany invites believers into a deep appreciation of God’s redemptive love. The Joy of Advent supports that goal with a personal reflection, a scripture reading, a description of the day’s Jesse Tree symbol, a song, discussion starters, suggestions for “Together Time,” and a prayer prompt. The book is supported by a lovely website with holiday recipes, tutorials for creating the Jesse Tree ornaments, craft ideas, traditions, and more stories. Busy parents will appreciate this ready-made deep dive into the riches of the Advent season, a daily time of togetherness that is sure to be the foundation for good memories, happy traditions, and family habits of holiness.

[Manda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful family resource for all ages to celebrate Advent and Christmas through Epiphany. With daily readings, musical suggestions, prayers and activities, it's a perfect book for people who would like to engage in a more rich celebration of the Christmas season through centuries of thoughtful tradition, partnered with activities that even the very young will enjoy. Warm illustrations augment the readings and some yummy recipes are peppered throughout. I've used a few different Advent devotional type books with my family over the years and they tend to be either too simplistic for older kids or too theological for the younger ones. The Joy of Advent encourages various ways to interact with it, allowing people of all ages to be drawn in.

[Vanessa VanderHyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas and Advent have always been my favorite time of the year, and over my 20 years of parenting, I have collected an extensive collection of Advent and Christmas books. So why did I buy one more? One of the challenges I face this year, with a broad spread of ages, is that some books are too mature for my littles, and picture books feel too babyish for my teens. The Grabills' new book, The Joy of Advent, is perfect for filling that gap! I'm looking forward to sharing the prayers, reflections and lush artwork with everyone in my family this upcoming year, as well as having a simple guide to keep us on track. Thank you Rebecca and Stephen for filling this much needed niche in Christmas literature!

[Elizabeth Raum · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great way for a family to celebrate Advent and the twelve days of Christmas. The Grabills provide interesting insights into various Bible verses, appropriate music suggestions, prayers, and activities for the whole family. Charming illustrations support the text and add a fun element for children to enjoy. This is the kind of book that a family could read every day, but if they missed a day or two during this busy season, they could stay on track and return to the skipped passages the next year. I was particularly impressed with the questions that encouraged a deeper dive into the Bible story. This a book is appropriate for Christians of all ages.

[Kristin Nitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful resource for families! While Advent traditionally and liturgically begins on the first of four Sundays before Christmas, Rebecca and Stephen Grabill decided to have their devotional guide to the season begin on December 1st. In addition to the scripture reading that teach about the forbears of Jesus, parents will find wonderful illustrations, opportunities for personal reflection, suggested topics for discussion, crafts, recipes, prayers, and musical recommendations. It's flexible so that people can make different choices to accommodate the ages of their children and unexpected challenges to their schedules.

Highly recommend!

[Becky Van Vleet · Rating 5 out of 5]

With an ever-increasing tiresome commercialism surrounding our Christmas season, I am so pleased with the Grabill’s Joy of Advent book for families. It is a refreshing look at the classic scriptures we all know and love about Christ’s birth with an emphasis on how families can celebrate Advent together, all ages. The stories are clear, accurate, and concise to generate good family discussions. I can’t wait to purchase more copies for my adult children to add to their libraries so that my grandchildren can grow and learn and focus on what Christmas really means.

[Lexa Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book that teaches and inspires, while encouraging family togetherness, throughout the Advent and Christmas season. It makes every day (from Advent through Epiphany) more meaningful -- with thoughtful reflections, historical facts, lessons about scripture and special feast days -- and recipes, songs and fun activities for kids. It's a book that could be brought out every year, to create fun traditions!

[Pamela Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful book! It is rich with information, activities, recipes, reflections, and lovely illustrations. I have never celebrated Advent before so I could not be more excited to have this as an asset for celebrating this coming season and beyond (Advent candles are already on the way)! This book offers something special for each day from the beginning of Advent through Epiphany, giving us the perfect opportunity to pause, savor, and rejoice in the sweetness of the season.

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a family experience. Just what I always wanted and wish for every Christmas season. Now it's here. Reminds me of the best of times and beautiful inspiring moments we can have together as a family (like Anne of Green Gables type of goodness).

[Patti Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful book is the perfect addition to the family Christmas library! With readings for each day of advent and beyond, this book will surely become a treasured part of family traditions that prepare hearts for the coming of the Messiah!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Joy of Advent offers something for every member of the family. Filled with beautiful illustrations, readings, activities, recipes and reflections, it encourages families to bond together during the Advent season. It is truly the perfect addition for the family Christmas library!