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Keeping Christ at the Center: A Mother-Daughter Christ-Honoring Christmas Advent Calendar Adventure
- Holleigh Locklyn
- Dec 2
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 11
Well Sweet Mamas, I hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving filled with love, light, and gratitude. We sure did at our home - once again, I found myself hit with a huge rush of intense joy that I’m able to live this life with my amazing, perfect family, always serving God with every breath and every tiny step I take.
But Thanksgiving has passed us by, and December has descended upon us, which means…
IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!
This is truly my favorite time of the year. It’s absolutely brimming with gorgeous decorations, tasty treats, and the Joy of Jesus Christ. Could anything be more glorious? My mom named me wisely when she named me Holleigh- I feel most myself at this time of year, when I can disappear completely into making our home feel magical for my kiddos and my hubby and into Serving and Celebrating my Lord and Savior.
My sweet little Addisyn is seven this year, and she’s becoming a gentle little soul who embraces graceful and careful femininity. Taylyn can’t wait to bake cookies and Bradyn can’t stop talking about helping Daddy chop down the Christmas Tree with a “giant huge ax” (his words, lol!), but Addisyn is so excited to help Mommy decorate this year, and she even said to me that she is looking forward to taking time each day to reflect and pray on Jesus dying on the Cross for her sins and expressing gratitude that Christ our Savior was Born.
With her getting older and more curious about both decorating and the True Meaning of Christmas (Jesus Christ), I thought this was the perfect year to pass along to her my antique ceramic Nativity Set, a family heirloom passed down to me from my grandmother, who received it from her mother. I can’t think of anything more special to share with my daughter than this symbol of Christian Womanhood in our family.
While I love hanging ornaments on the tree and stringing up Christmas lights as much as the next girl, it’s important to me to take time to remember the True Reason for the Season. It’s easy to get distracted by all the bright, shiny, seductive Secular doo-dads and whats-its that dominate this time of year, but as Christians, we need to check our Hearts and make sure that everything we’re doing is still in Service of God, and not done only to fulfill our own vanity or sense of “fun.” Fun should never come before Jesus.
So, with all of these things on my mind and heart, I suddenly heard God whisper to me an idea that would combine decorating, celebrating, heirloom sharing, and Jesus-Worshiping all into one new Christmas tradition to begin with Addisyn.
But before you start completing this calling, God whispered, you must first go to Hobby Lobby.
Of course, I obeyed.
God’s Words dancing through my head (a much better thing to have up there than sugarplums!), I let Him lead me through the aisles of my favorite store right to this Advent calendar. Made of miniature houses, one for each day of the Advent, the calendar is customizable, the compartments all empty to be filled however you please…and each the perfect size to fit each of the figures from my grandma’s Nativity Set!
So, I planned to combine my gift with Addisyn’s desire to devote time each day to Glorifying Christ- each day, we would open one figure together, and talk its role in the story of the Nativity.
I quickly realized, though, that the set only had ten figures…and the calendar had 24 spaces! How could I fill up the other fourteen compartments in a God Honoring way?
And God, always there for me when I need Him, whispered yet another idea.
He gave me the idea to incorporate tactile representations of the real Nativity into our Christ-Centered Advent Adventure. Things like…a piece of hay…or…a little bundle of sheep’s wool. By seeing, feeling, touching, smelling, experiencing these little evocative symbolic bits of the Manger, Addisyn could truly reflect on what it might have actually been like to witness the Birth of Jesus.
So, here is a list of all the things Addisyn will uncover this Advent in our Christ-Honoring Advent Calendar Adventure - we opened our first box last night, and when I explained to her the meaning behind the little chunk of dried cow dung she held in her tiny hands, her little innocent eyes filled with tears, awed by the Spirit of our Lord and Savior…the True Christmas Spirit. I can’t wait to see how she reacts to the rest! Feel free to use this idea to Worship Jesus Christ in your home this Christmas!
Create your Immersive Nativity Christ-Honoring Advent Calendar Adventure:
Day 1-
A Piece of Dried Cow Dung- to remind us of the stink and filth Mary endured to give birth to our King
Day 2-
The Cow Figurine
Day 3-
A Bit of Donkey Fur- to imagine the feel of the animal as even the Beasts kneeled to Honor the Glory of Christ
Day 4-
The Donkey Figurine
Day 5-
A Tuft of Sheep’s Wool- to connect with the Shepherd and to imagine the bleating of lambs as the Lamb of God came into the World
Day 6-
A Miniature Shepherd’s Crook- to envision what Jesus might have looked up to see from his Manger
Day 7-
The Shepherd Figurine
Day 8-
A Little Nugget of Real Gold- to honor the first gift Jesus received from the first Wise Man
Day 9-
The First Wise Man Figurine
Day 10-
YoungLiving Frankincense Essential Oil- to honor the second gift Jesus received from the second Wise Man
Day 11-
The Second Wise Man Figurine
Day 12-
YoungLiving Myrrrh Essential Oil- to honor the third gift Jesus received from the third Wise Man
Day 13-
The Third Wise Man Figurine
Day 14-
A Rock- to imagine what Joseph might have kneeled upon as he helped Mary birth the Savior of the World
Day 15-
The Joseph Figurine
Day 16-
A Blood Soaked Cloth- to honor the blood shed by the Virgin Mary in her laboring the bring us our King
Day 17-
The Mary Figurine
Day 18-
A Star- to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem that led the Three Wise Men to Jesus’ birth place
Day 19-
A Feather- to represent the wings of the Angel that Blessed the Holy Birth
Day 20-
The Angel Figurine
Day 21-
A Piece of Splintery Wood- to reflect upon how the rough Manger may have felt against the Baby Jesus’ skin
Day 22-
A Piece of Hay- to feel the texture the Baby Jesus felt against his soft, innocent, baby back
Day 23-
A Lovely Keepsake Golden Bell from Hobby Lobby- to evoke the bells which joyfully announced Christ’s Birth, calling all who could hear to Worship and Rejoice
Day 24-
The Baby Jesus Figurine
Still want to try this idea, but your babies aren't quite old enough to handle breakable or heirloom Nativity figures? Try this wooden starter Nativity Set from Hobby Lobby!
Share your prayers and blessings with the Home Sweet Holleigh community! Comment below or engage on social media! Find me on Instagram and TikTok at @homesweetholleigh
Want to Honor and Center Christ in your Christmas Celebration? Hobby Lobby has everything you need!
Check out these Christ-Centered items from Hobby Lobby:
remember to always find meaning in the little things
You’re so creative, Holleigh! I wish I could think of things like you do and make them as beautiful as you do! I feel like whenever I try they just look sad, lol!