December 17
Bible Verses Covered
Devotion: Advent is a busy time in our family. We shop for gifts for friends and relatives, and bake for all the teachers at school, as ways to express our love and gratitude. For our twelve-year-old son, Advent is also a time at school with a lot of projects, homework, and tests before he gets to relax during Winter Break. For our fifteen-year-old daughter, Advent and Christmas are a time to celebrate family. “It doesn’t even have to be your biological family,” she explains – “as a wise old man once said, ‘family don’t end with blood.’” Regarding the passage, the children wonder if Joseph ever told anyone that Jesus was not his biological son. And they note that Joseph’s decision to not divorce Mary when she was pregnant created a family for her and Jesus, which then gave Jesus the opportunity to change the world through his teachings about God and Love.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for bringing Jesus into the world, and for having him show us how to love and honor you in ways that we can follow and imitate. Thank you for teaching us that there are many different kinds of families, and that you love them all.
Devotion: Advent is a busy time in our family. We shop for gifts for friends and relatives, and bake for all the teachers at school, as ways to express our love and gratitude. For our twelve-year-old son, Advent is also a time at school with a lot of projects, homework, and tests before he gets to relax during Winter Break. For our fifteen-year-old daughter, Advent and Christmas are a time to celebrate family. “It doesn’t even have to be your biological family,” she explains – “as a wise old man once said, ‘family don’t end with blood.’” Regarding the passage, the children wonder if Joseph ever told anyone that Jesus was not his biological son. And they note that Joseph’s decision to not divorce Mary when she was pregnant created a family for her and Jesus, which then gave Jesus the opportunity to change the world through his teachings about God and Love.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for bringing Jesus into the world, and for having him show us how to love and honor you in ways that we can follow and imitate. Thank you for teaching us that there are many different kinds of families, and that you love them all.