A Thrill of Hope: 5 Advent Reflections & Prayers for Weary ParentsSample

Light of the World

The Christian year begins in Advent, and it’s a natural time to begin to integrate liturgical rhythms into our families’ days. In the midst of a busy, often stressful holiday season, observing Advent helps us to stay rooted in anticipation of Christ’s arrival. It tethers us to something deeper so we don’t float away like gifts on Santa’s sleigh.

Advent invites us to be time travelers—to embark inside an ancient, sacred story of what was and somehow is too.

My family started rolling beeswax candles for our Advent wreath a few years ago. (The kits make it easy—all you need is a blow dryer and about five minutes of patience.) Neither my husband nor I grew up with the tradition of lighting Advent wreaths in our homes, but it has become a beloved tradition for both grown-ups and kids in our family.

Over the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, we gather around our dining room table in anticipation. Our weeknight dinners of tacos and pizza feel more sacred as the candles flicker and wax pools below. Each Sunday, we light a new candle as we observe this family ritual. We reflect on the world’s need for God to break in and usher in a new reality, and we pray simple prayers together. (Also, my sons really like setting things on fire, so lighting candles has a built-in level of excitement.)

While holiday ads pop up on our phones and commercials crowd our TVs—inviting us into rituals of shopping until we drop, whispering that our identity lies in being a consumer—our little lighting-of-the-wreath ritual points us and our children toward something deeper: the knowledge that our truest identity is found in Christ.

As we light more candles and journey further into the Advent season at the precipice of Jesus’ birth, we become more attuned to the Light of the World (John 8:12)—and what it means to wait for Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23).

May your family embrace the mystery of time this Advent season, remembering that your identity is in Christ alone.

Reflection Questions:

1. How can we feel excited about the birth of Jesus if it already happened?
2. What do you think that Jesus being the Light of the World means?

Prayer:

O Christ, through You we enter a sacred circle of time. As we anticipate the birth of Jesus, please orient our hearts so we might tune our days to You.

As we journey through Advent, renew us from the inside out. Awaken us to a deeper sense of time that is both now and not yet.

In Your Incarnation, we hear echoes of eternity. May these sacred reverberations form our family as we journey deeper into knowing You. Fashion us to reflect Your character, O God who became a vulnerable baby, born in a barn.

As we approach Christmas, help us live in the light of Your glorious love, time after time. Amen.