Advent Tradition Series: What Can We Give to the King?
Many Seasons, One Constant
Over the last 12 years (since Big Bro was a preschooler), I’ve curated many different ideas and resources to incorporate into our family’s advent traditions. I get asked each year to share what books we have used or activities we have done … so this month, I am devoting time on this blog to do just that!
We’ve tried many different things, and each advent season has looked a little different from previous ones (and naturally so, in accordance with our family’s context for each given year), but there are some favorites that have stuck around, that even my kids have expressed they will want to continue with their own future families.
There has always been one constant, however. And that is the intentional fight to keep Jesus and the good news He brings the focus of all our merry-making.
First and Foremost: Combat Materialism
There is a disease afflicting Western Christians: our inordinate love for stuff.
One of the things I am most passionate about during the holidays (besides the gospel itself), is teaching my kids how to fight against consumerism and first-world superfluity (and not because we are great at it, but because of the opposite; it is a NEED for us as a family!). Frankly, this is an everyday fight all year long, but when you add “Christmas sparkle” to the mix? Well, Lord help us.
Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE all the twinkling, jingling, partying, and gift-giving that comes with this time of year. Maybe a little too much, LOL. And so, we also know full well how easy it is to succumb to the lure of keeping up with a Western Christmas – the decorations, the supplies, the ingredients, the outfits, the gifts (not to mention the exhaustion and stress that comes along with all that) … things of this world that will eventually be destroyed by rust and eaten by moth; things that can distract us from slowing down enough to really ponder the weight of God’s gift to humanity through Jesus becoming flesh.
But, It’s the Season of Giving!
I get that gift-giving today is a practical way to “show God’s love to each other,” but it unfortunately has overshadowed the fact that we are really celebrating ONE person’s birthday. Sadly, Christmas in our Western culture can be like celebrating a second (maybe even grander?) birthday for some individuals.
We can even justify the excessiveness by encouraging the expectation of receiving (ahem, Dear Santa letters or Christmas wish lists) because on the front end of that is giving. And since giving is better than receiving, we give ourselves the green light to saunter through decked out Target halls with a $6 latte in hand in order to love on others with pretty packages filled with temporal objects (and max out our budgets at the same time).
We’ve twisted the good into greediness and warped the idea “showing God’s love” into wastefulness.
A Tradition that Redirects our Hearts to Jesus
I knew my own struggle with materialism and wanted better for my kids. So, early in my motherhood, I searched for ideas to help keep our young family focused on Jesus, instead of getting swept up with the more prevalent Santa culture.
One night, as I was scouring the interwebs, I stumbled upon an image of a sign sitting upon a mantel that read:
What Can We Give to the King?
Don’t you love that?! One simple, yet powerful, question.
Since then, a staple tradition in our home has been to challenge ourselves with that question all throughout the season.
This tradition also involves the use of Shepherd’s Pouches and a reading of the book that kicks off our advent season: The King’s Christmas List (I will share more about the specifics of each below).
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The Tradition: Shepherd’s Pouches
So, what’s up with the tradition of the Shepherd’s Pouches?
I first discovered the beautiful idea of Shepherds’ Pouches by way of this blog. It is originally found in Noel and John Piper’s book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions (you can also download a PDF copy here).
The whole idea is to remind us that Christmas is really about Jesus’ birthday, so it is really He who should be getting the presents! Of course, young children aren’t necessarily able to grasp how we can give something to someone we cannot see. So, these Shepherd’s Pouches serve as a tangible way for them to learn to give to the king.
I took the original idea and modified it to fit our own family culture. You would obviously do the same for yours, if needed.
Shepherds’ Pouches When My Kids Were in Preschool/Early Elementary:
We used the shepherd’s pouches to encourage the kids to give to Jesus through their service. For every notable-to-them deed (i.e. cleaning up or sharing without being asked, giving up going first, letting a sibling pick the family movie even if it was their turn to do so, communicating a thoughtful or encouraging word of praise towards another, etc.), money would be put into their shepherd’s pouches.
On Christmas morning, the kids would open them up and tally their “gifts” to see how much they were able to contribute to our family’s overall gift purchase from the giving catalogs from organizations like World Vision, Compassion International, and/or Samartian’s Purse.
As much as I personally am not super keen on rewarding behavior, at this stage of raising kids, things need to be a little more black and white. The monetary reward, plus the anticipation of how much they were able to contribute as their gift to Jesus throughout the month, served as a concrete way of beginning to cultivate their hearts towards service and their minds towards others.
When My Kids Were in Elementary/Early Middle School:
We focused more on cultivating their relationship with God. (Baby Sis, 11 years old, is still in this stage).
We kept small pieces of paper in a cup in the middle of our dining table and would encourage them to start their day asking God what He wanted them to do or work on that day. Give extra grace? Exercise self-control with the tongue? Count up blessings to fight discontentment? Write down a prayer or a praise? They would then write those down on the pieces of paper and tuck them away in their pouches (sometimes, they also felt God asking them to go ahead and place some of their own money in there too).
On Christmas morning, they would open their pouches up to see how God grew them or answered any prayers throughout the season. Being able to look back on even just a month’s worth of God’s work in their lives was an invaluable Christmas gift to each child!
The objective at this stage is to encourage their own relationship with God by communing with Him daily and learning to hear His voice in their young lives. It is a gift to Jesus to be intentionally pursuing a relationship with Him!
Now That I Have Kids in Junior High/High School:
In the last couple of years, I’ve challenged Big Bro and Big Sis to really dig deep.
That each time they pass by our “What Can We Give to the King” sign and our shepherd’s pouches, they would stop to reflect on Jesus and what He did when He left heaven to sojourn among sinners. That as they are reminded to ask themselves throughout the day how they can give to their savior, they would also meditate on what the gospel means to them specifically … how that should inform their relationships with others around them, as well as how they should navigate each situation they find themselves in.
My ultimate objective as a mom is not that my kids grow up to be “good” Christians, but instead remember that they really are not, apart from Jesus.
My hope is that through traditions like this, as part of a lifetime of gospel-centered discipleship, they would grow up in constant recognition of their need for Him, and that the greatest gift they could give our king is to actually rest in His finished work.
A rest that looks like living humbly surrendered and submitted, so that the Holy Spirit has room to work accordingly in their lives, for God’s glory – whatever that looks like on any given day.
Significance of Shepherds
I want to say that this is my personal favorite tradition as a mom, especially because of what the shepherds represent in the Christmas story:
- They were of humble and lowly position
- Of all the people to know about the Messiah’s coming, they were the first to hear
- They were the first to behold God Incarnate
- They were the first to glorify and praise God for what they had heard and seen
Supplies
Drawstring Bag: I honestly can’t remember where we got ours since it was so long ago. I stenciled each kiddo’s first name initial to mark which was theirs. The one thing I do wish I had used was something bigger, like these. Our pouches are “party favor” sized and get really full by the time Christmas rolls around!
A “What Can We Give the King” Sign: I simply made my own on a 8.5 x 11 document, printed it out, and then cut it down to place into an 8×10 frame.
But for my readers, I made a FREE PRINTABLE! You can either keep it simple and print on regular paper or cardstock (maybe even let your kids decorate it?) or you can take time to trim it down and put into a frame like I did.
Just click here to download your own copy.
Advent Book: The King’s Christmas List
12 years of doing advent activities means 12 years of curating a Christmas book collection!
Among the first we circulate through each year is The King’s Christmas List by Eldon Johnson. This is the book we read when we set up our “What Can We Give the King” sign and Shepherd’s Pouches.
Summary:
Emma (and her dog, LOL) are invited to the king’s party and they somewhat fret over what to give the king. They decide on a few things to bring and set off for the party. Along the way, they encounter others who desperately need the gifts they had planned to give the king. When they finally arrive at the party, Emma no longer has gifts to give. But we soon learn what giving to the king really means.
We love this story because it helps sets the tone for the season on what giving to King Jesus can look like.
While this book emphasizes charitable giving, I have always expanded our family discussion to include the idea that it is our hearts that are the most important gift. That may very well look like meeting the practical needs of those in need, but it can also look like exercising patience, serving cheerfully, forgiving quickly when you’ve been hurt by someone, etc.
But for young kids in particular, this book provides a set of handles that they can grab on to for learning how to keep focused on Jesus and giving to Him by giving to others.
Other Favorite Advent Books for Cultivating Hearts of Sacrificial Giving:
Here are a couple other books that pair well with this advent tradition …
Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer
This is such a family favorite (even Big Bro, 16 years old, ended up sitting own with us on this one last year, once he overheard us girls reading the book together)! It is a sweet, silly story with sweet, silly illustrations to go with.
Humphrey is a camel whose whole objective is getting his blanket back. He finally gets a new one … but then something happens when he comes upon a shivering Baby Jesus.
A precious picture book for those with littles!
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
This classic short story (written in 1905) is perfect for older kiddos.
Very little money poses a challenge for a young, newlywed couple who each want to bless their significant other with a worthy Christmas gift. Della (the wife) makes a great sacrifice to get Jim (the husband) something special, and Jim does the same for Della.
We discover at their surprising gift exchange that it wasn’t so much about the specific gifts they gave each other, but the love, devotion, and sacrifice that went behind them.
The specific version we have is illustrated by P.J. Lynch, whose artwork perfectly captures the heart of this poignant, humbling, and sentimental story. A keeper for your home library, for sure.
I hope this post blessed you in some way! Whether or not your implement this tradition, I hope that the heart behind it is something you can incorporate into your own homes.
Stay tuned, as I plan on sharing more of our family's gospel-centered advent ideas throughout the month!
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