Advent Conspiracy - One Family's Story

Story: "A Family Discipleship Tool"

by Clark B. from Imago Dei Community in Portland, OR

When my wife and I considered how we would lead our family of four kids through the Christmas season in line with Imago Dei Community’s Advent Conspiracy we were both excited and apprehensive. The vision seemed so right; worship taking a prominent role, resisting the empire’s consumerism, giving ourselves away relationally and redistributing wealth like God did through Jesus. We fully agreed and desired for our children to be re-captivated and enter into the story of Jesus coming to earth. But we knew we had established a Christmas celebration pattern that would be hard for our kids to back away from. Would they be able to make the transition? Would they be mad, thinking, “Great! Now we get a crappy Christmas…for baby Jesus sake?” How would we help them embrace a less self-centered, more worshipful, relational and global Advent celebration?

Cathy as usual had great sensitivity to the kids’ perspective and insight as to how to help them process this whole thing. Together we talked through how to affirm this different way without vilifying all our past traditions. We also felt it was more important to begin the process than to try to make an overwhelming leap from lots of purchased gifts to a Christmas where we only buy Alpacas for other people we’ve never even heard of. So with those two principles; affirming the vision of Advent Conspiracy without totally demonizing our (and our extended family’s) traditions and seeing this as a process, we sat down with our kids for a family meeting.

We laid out the vision for Advent Conspiracy explaining that we wanted to move in this direction because we think it is true and important to constantly allow God to grow us and change us. The truth of the vision stood on its own merits in our kids eyes. They all got it. They agreed and we began to plan. We set a goal of reducing our Christmas gift giving by $300 so we could give that to the church’s redistribution plan. We brainstormed about relational giving and what that could look like. We planned a family trip to the craft store and committed to several evenings when we could work on making gifts for others. We decided to join with some local redistribution initiatives that I was leading our church body to engage in.

I have to say that the month or so leading up to Christmas had never been as family oriented. It was full of conversations about what to give to one another, or where money will go, or how low-income local families will be blessed. We spent more time together as a family, sitting around the TV in the evening making gifts and talking. We wondered about the global water shortage and dreamed about God’s Church united and giving the gift of clean water to our world. It was a beautiful season. During the week before Christmas morning we participated with our church using some of the special offering money to purchase and deliver gifts for a local Somali Muslim family of 10. Each of us had a family member or two to consider and buy for, wrap the gifts and then deliver. This sure opened up conversations about culture and religion. Everyone was respectful and giving.

On the morning of Christmas when we all began to wake up sprawled all over the living room floor where everyone had fallen asleep as I read the night before, I detected a curious energy in the air. I soon found that we were all more excited to give what we’d been making. Our pattern for opening gifts has been to have the youngest receive a package first, she opens it while we all watch. She then chooses the next one and gives it to who ever it’s for. Everyone excitedly chose those gifts which they had made and expectantly gave it to the one for whom it was intended. We all loved receiving such things as a coupon for a trip to the ice skating rink, bookstore and ice cream parlor with big sister, a shadow box artistically arranged with big brother’s life-memorabilia, a hand crafted jewelry box for mom, character sketches of and for each of the girls, knitted beanies and scarves, paintings, etc.

Advent Conspiracy provided an opportunity to disciple our kids (and the parents too) in global justice, local awareness and care for people and needs, worship as more than songs, relational giving as far greater than things, and the loving sacrifice of God in sending Jesus. As we continue to try to follow Jesus we anticipate taking another step in the process this Advent season.

 

See www.adventconspiracy.org for more stories like this one.