Our Advent Scripture for Day 22 is Matthew 1:18-25.

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name Him Immanuel,
which is translated “God is with us.”

When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.

During our Christmas carol singing, Lauren held her little Bible like a songbook.

Tonight, our family activity was a Christmas carol sing-off. We each took turns choosing a Christmas song and then sang it together. Lauren chose “O Christmas Tree,” which wasn’t a surprise since she sings it all day long, making up new words every time. Jackson started “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” The best moment was when Matt started singing “Feliz Navidad,” and the sing-off became a dance party. I couldn’t begin to describe in words his crazy dance moves, but the kids loved it! We mixed in many other treasured Christmas songs, and ended with a kicked-up version of “Go Tell It On the Mountain.”

Jackson and his marshmallow snowman

Then, we made snowmen, with toothpicks and marshmallows. It was an incredible act of discipline for Lauren to not immediately eat her snowman, but she managed to hold out!

Lauren eyeing her marshmallow snowman

It is incredible to think that Christmas is in three days! Two more special Christmas Countdown activities remain. May God richly bless you these next few days as you anticipate celebrating the birth of our Savior!