I’ve never done a “Works for Me Wednesday,” sponsored by Shannon of Rocks in My Dryer, because — frankly — I’m still learning from all of you out there what works for you. I don’t have my act together enough to offer much that works for me.

But in the spirit of Christmas, I’ve decided to jump in this week. Mainly because I want to go read through everyone else’s nifty Christmas ideas and try some new things this year.

What works for me?

A couple of years ago, I really became interested in trying to incorporate some type of simple Advent ceremony in our home. I remember doing this growing up — Mom had an Advent wreath and candles on the coffee table in our living room, and we’d take turns reading from a little Advent book and lighting the candles once a week.

But I didn’t want to do an adult-oriented ceremony with our young children who, at the time, were all eight and under. So I started asking around for ideas.

As it turns out, I got an assignment from HomeLife magazine to write an article on Advent, which gave me a reason to call everybody I could think of who might have some good advice. It was of course in the heat of July when I needed to do this!

One day, I was dropping off our pet hamster at a neighbor’s house who had agreed to “hamster-sit” while we were on vacation, and I happened to ask her about Advent. She’s a homeschooling mother of four, whose kids are some of the nicest people I know.

She’s the one who told me about Jotham’s Journey.

This is book one of a trilogy by Arnold Ytreeide, who has a website telling about each one. My neighbor said this is the best book for her family because it’s perfect to keep kids’ attention and the Advent ceremony is contained within each of the nightly readings. She said every night during Advent, her husband reads out loud to their four kids, then she lets each child have one whole week where they’re in charge of lighting the candle (so there’s no bickering.)

Then on Christmas morning, they all come down to the parents’ bedroom (so they won’t see the toys in the den) to light the white Christ candle and do their reading BEFORE the kids even go discover all their presents. “This keeps their focus all day on the celebration of Christ,” she said. “He’s the reason we give gifts to each other; He’s the reason for our JOY.”

She said they alternate every year between Jotham’s Journey and the sequel, Bartholemew’s Passage. Well, I also discovered Arnold Ytreeide has a third book out now, Tabitha’s Travels. We went ahead and bought all three. I loaned out Bartholemew’s Passage to a friend last year (who remembered to return it — YEA!), and we did Jotham’s Journey as a family.

Here’s how one reviewer describes it:

“Jotham’s Journey is an incredible family read for Christmas time. Each night you share a portion of the story with your family. And each nightly reading leaves you hanging ready for the next night’s passage. Follow Jotham’s journey, a story of a young boy, separated from his family by his neglect and selfish attitude. This separation leads him on a journey to find his family. Will he ever find his family again? Hold your breath when Jotham faces thieves, robbers, and kidnappers. Rejoice in his encounters with wise men, shepherds, and innkeepers until at last he finds his way to the Saviour born in Bethlehem.”

Each of the nightly readings includes a devotional thought with scripture, a prayer, and instruction for lighting the Advent candles.

We enjoyed Jotham’s Journey last year and plan on using Bartholemew’s Passage this year. I placed a very simple wreath on our coffee table, and bought three purple candles, one pink candle, and one white candle for the center.

I like this because it’s simple, all contained within one book — and it’s interesting enough to hold everyone’s attention. I’ve learned to let my 3-year-old color or play with some quiet toys during the reading because he’s not good at keeping STILL for 20 minutes.

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Since this post is on the topic of Christmas, I’ll also add in one more “Works for Me” we’ve decided on for our family. We gave the Santa issue some serious thought a few years ago and didn’t feel right about telling our kids a big fat man in a red suit will come down our chimney to bring them toys on Christmas Eve. It just seemed too weird — when we’re completely honest with them on everything else.

If we tell our kids that Santa is real, how will they believe that Jesus is really real?

We don’t make a big deal of it, and we tell them that a lot of children like to play this Santa Claus game, so let’s keep it a secret so we don’t spoil it for them.

We’ve got a book about the real St. Nicholas which we read together, and we do pretend like Santa visits — but they run give their Daddy a hug to thank him because they know he’s the one who paid for everything! (Five kids on one income, you get the picture that our “Santa” is a little bit thrifty.)

Thankfully, with the politically correct atmosphere these days, most people tend to understand. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a big shift at our children’s Christian preschool. There’s a lot more emphasis on “Jesus’ Birthday” than on “What’s Santa bringing you?”

I’m hoping to pick up some more good Christmas ideas at Rocks in My Dryer. Here’s the link to Works for Me Wednesday — Christmas edition.