How To Use This Book? Part One: Reading With Your Family
When I first started writing God Is Coming, it was with my own children in mind. They were really too young at the time, but I knew I wanted a way to communicate the enormous, beautiful, magical story of the Gospel to their young hearts. This book is intended for people of all ages, adults and children alike. My hope is that each year as you read it, something new stands out to you. But I wanted to take a moment to give you a few ideas as to how to read this book with your family. As I said, you can read this book at any age, but I particularly envisioned it being read aloud by a parent to children between the ages of five and fifteen.
First I suggest you pick a time to read each day. Don’t stress about this too much. You can change it up. Last year we read in the evenings. We read stories before bed already, so we simply made this the first thing we read each night. You may prefer to read it over breakfast or after school. If you miss a night (or a morning), please don’t cause yourself to feel stressed or guilty. Each poem can stand alone, so you don’t have to catch up or you can double up the next day. Either way, this book is not intended to add to your to-do list. It is an exercise in hope and joy!
If you’re reading God Is Coming to your children for the first time, I encourage you to pre-read the poems before reading them to your children. This will help you get a feel for the content and what questions may arise as you read them to your children. The very first time you read it you may want to introduce the book to your children. You may want to explain what “Advent” means. It comes from the Latin, “ad venire” and literally means “to come.” So when we celebrate the season of Advent we are celebrating God’s coming! This is no small thing. We are celebrating the fact that the God who made the universe and exists above and before and after all things, put on human flesh and walked around on the Earth He had made so that He could save His people. You don’t have to explain all of this, of course. But consider asking your children why they think we celebrate Christmas and why it’s important.
You will notice that each of the four parts of the book has a refrain that is repeated (with some variation in the last part). As you read this each day, your child may begin to repeat it aloud with you, which is part of the fun. When we read this together last year as a family I told the boys that each poem included the phrase “GOD IS COMING!” and I encouraged them to say it with me as loud as they wanted when we got to that part. They loved it!
When you’re reading, be prepared that your children may not listen. Perhaps your children are angelic and never distracted, but some nights we struggled to get through one of these brief poems with my five year old. That’s ok. Trust that some of it is sinking in and, once again, don’t agonize or let yourself get too frustrated if things don’t seem to be going well. You can even stop part way through and pick it up again the next night. Also, be prepared for interruptions. Curious minds might have questions. Pause and talk about those questions. For example, the very first stanza of December 1 introduces that God is “three Persons in one.” This is a complex theological concept. It’s ok if you don’t have an explanation. Just make space for the questions and simply say, “That’s a great question. What do you think?”
Speaking of questions, you may want to take a moment to look at the Appendix included in this year’s deluxe edition. Starting on page 64 you will find a Bible verse and a few questions to go along with each day’s reading. Consider reading the verse before or after each day’s reading. Then pick one or two of the questions if they seem age-appropriate for you children and leave room for discussion at the end. This is definitely not necessary. If your children are too tired or too young for these questions, don’t worry about them. And please don’t let the questions overwhelm you. You don’t have to have the answers. It’s ok to say that you don’t know.
The other way to make this practice come alive is to include a physical element along with the reading - something tangible or visual to accompany the book. Interestingly enough, before I conceived of the idea for the book I actually conceived of a physical object that would be an heirloom-quality Advent piece. However, this project has proven to be incredibly complex and is still in the works. In the meantime, your ritual that accompanies this book could simply be giving each child a small peppermint to enjoy while you do the reading (it’s amazing how something sweet will trigger attention and they will soon be reminding you to read the Advent book). It could be that you have your children draw while you read aloud to them. This year my family purchased a wooden Advent spiral from Etsy with places for 25 small candles. We will be adding and lighting a candle each day as we read.
No matter how you choose to approach this book, please keep in mind that this is meant to be an exercise in hope and joy not in legalism or drudgery. Give yourself and your kids grace. If you don’t make it all the way through the book this year, no problem. There’s always next year! The hope is that this little book will be something you can return to year after year and that it only grows richer with each reading.
Please let me know what ideas or exercises you find helpful as you and your family read God Is Coming together this year!