Advent Things 2023
Every year I look forward to Advent. But this year there were a variety of reasons that I was just not ready on December 1st. Good reasons, like going on a cruise with my husband and the holiday season descending quickly, and messy reasons, like misunderstandings and complications in relationships. Honestly, I felt much more ready to start FEELING Christmas around December 10th. And that is how it works sometimes. And that is ok. One of my favorite things about Advent is how it can fit whatever works. You can be flexible. There isn’t one way to do it: the whole goal is preparing your heart for celebrating Christ’s birth. There is a lot of flexibility in that.
This year, we are doing something I’ve wanted to do for a couple of years now: open a Christmas book each day for Advent. Of course we are behind, and we have a stack of opened read books and opened unread books because…life. But I love it!
Here is my list of links, almost at the end of Advent, updated for 2023:
Personal thoughts on Advent 2023
Advent & Christmastide Devotional PDF
It is even available in a book, if you don’t want to print out the PDFs. Here is my past collection of Advent thoughts.
2023 (and old ones that still work) Links:
Kate Bowler free Advent devotional
$5 Gift Guide by Everyday Reading, 30+ Great Gifts for Men from Everyday Reading
Jesus Storybook Advent 2023 and her Advent resources for grown ups
Breath from Heaven email series + free Christmas anxiety toolkit by Little House Studio
A Story for Advent Eve and kit by Ann Voskamp
A beautiful online magazine by Ann Voskamp (and the second)
Advent by the Bible Project, and the Advent videos by them
Advent Reflections by Marilyn Gardner. I’ve been loving her posts this year as well: The surprising persistence of Advent and Shielding our Joy during Advent
