A great way to keep Christ in Christmas is to make and use a family Advent Wreath. The Advent Wreath lies flat on a table. Nested in the circular wreath are four purple candles (or three purple and one pink) and usually one white candle in the center. There is a ceremony that goes with the lighting of the candles, with one candle to be lit on each Sunday in Advent (starting four weeks before Christmas.) The four candles stand for hope, love, joy, and peace. The traditional approach is to have started about two weeks ago, but with the variations already in place, it seems reasonable to light the candles on two days a week or whatever it takes to space it out between now and Christmas this first year. Next year you can get an earlier start. The important thing is to focus on Jesus during the Christmas season instead of all the other activities that can become so overbearing at this time of the year.
Ken Collins has written a great article on his web page about the Advent Wreath. He tells how to make your wreath and he also gives an example of what you can read as you light each of the candles. Check out his page here.
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