Great Advent Reads From New Growth Press

If you read my blog or follow my Instagram account or my Facebook page, then you probably know how much I LOVE Christmas!  It's my favorite time of year!  I have so many decorations that I have to start in November with the decorating.  I love to find great Christmas-themed books and devotionals to read during the holiday season. One of my FAVORITES is Prepare Him Room, by Marty Machowski!






I LOVE Marty Machowski's devotionals!  We've read The Gospel Story Bible and The Ology and they were both great!  We're currently reading Long Story Short and really loving it!  So getting his Advent family devotional was an easy decision!  Its simple and lovely.  It covers the 4 weeks of advent, but each week only has 3 parts.  This way you don't feel pressure if you miss a day or if you're doing several advent activities at once.  (Yes.  That would be me!  Haha!)

Each week starts with a list of simple supplies needed.  These include things like crayons, paper, a manger scene, or a youtube video of Handel's Messiah.  (Music is a part of this advent - which I love!)  Each week starts a Bible passage about Jesus (some are prophecies from the Old Testament and some are passages from the New Testament).  There are devotional stories and activities (including caroling and drawing a picture of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.   And after each week there's a chapter of a Christmas story called Bartimaeus.

The book also has a companion music CD - also called Prepare Him Room - by Sovereign Grace Music.  Each day of the devotional includes singing along with one or 2 of the songs from the CD.  Although I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the CD (or the album on itunes), it isn't necessary.  Most of the songs are Christmas hymns and could be found on youtube.  But seriously, GET THE CD.  Its FANTASTIC.  We really love it!!!

The second Christmas-themed book I'd like to share with you is a little one called A Better December:Proverbs To Brighten Christmas. 

This books is a GREAT gift for someone that tends to get stressed or depressed at Christmas.  That sounds odd, but there are a LOT of reasons people feel down around Christmas: the death of a loved one, an illness, financial issues, family issues, the stress of trying to make the holiday perfect.  Sometimes we just need a little dose of God's Word to put things into perspective.  And Proverbs is a great way to do that!  So if you know someone who struggles around the holidays. - Or even if you just need a little perspective to keep things in control around the holidays, this book is for you!