My Books Archives - True and Faithful

Is it too late to Start Advent?

Here it is December 6 and the Christmas season is well underway. Is it too late to start Advent? Not at all.

We can exhale fully because we aren’t behind. We didn’t miss out and it’s not too late to have a deep and meaningful Advent.

You don’t have to catch up and you don’t have to cram.

Right now, right where you are, you can till the soil of your own heart to embrace the gift of Christmas – Jesus, our Savior.

What is Advent?

John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Lord. To get the people of Israel ready for the birth of Jesus. In the same way, Advent helps us prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Because the truth is, we could do all the parties, decorate our house, get every gift mailed or wrapped under the tree and yet miss Jesus altogether.

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Seven Reasons to Celebrate Advent with Your Family

By Lisa Appelo 6 Comments

About 15 years ago, I decided I’d had it with Santa. Dan and I were the ones saving and shopping and wrapping and staying up Christmas Eve to put together 42 pieces of a Barbie house while Santa got all the credit.

And that hit home. Santa was getting far too much attention in a season meant for Jesus.

There are far more reasons to celebrate Advent with your family than Santa.

That year, I went through the whole house and bagged up every Santa decoration, ornament and book to take to the thrift store. We stopped writing letters or lists for Santa, standing in line for pictures at the mall and playing up the fiction that is Santa.

Instead, we collected manger scenes and set them around the house, on the tree, on the front lawn. We bought books that reflected the real Christmas story and started our first Advent traditions.

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Let’s Countdown to Christmas {and some freebies for you!}

By Lisa Appelo 8 Comments

We are entering a season that is at once the most beautiful of the year and the most busy.

I long to use this month to remember the miraculous gift God has given us in Jesus and to worship Him. I want that for me and for my family.

But pressing up against that longing is the necessary shopping and wrapping, decorating and baking, parties and plays. All good stuff, but stuff that can derail from advent.

That is precisely why I wrote Countdown to Christmas. I wanted to carve out time each day — for me and for my family — to open scripture and to unfold the Christmas story.

And I’m elated to share with you that my book Countdown to Christmas: Unwrap the Real Christmas Story with Your Family in 15 Days is now released! It’s been available in ebook, but this year, it’s expanded and in print to be used year after year, or packed away into Christmas boxes.

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Countdown to Christmas book RE-launch

By Lisa Appelo 9 Comments

Last year, I needed something more out of Christmas than the rush of a to-do list and the noise from endless commercials. I wanted to focus my family on Jesus and build the anticipation of Christmas Day.

I decided to tell the story of Jesus’ birthday through our Nativity set.

Each night, the kids unwrapped one piece of our Nativity and added it to the manger scene.

But we also unwrapped the real Christmas story each day as we read scriptures about prophecies of the Messiah, about the angels’ visits to Mary and Joseph and about wise men who traveled to see Jesus.

I wrote Countdown to Christmas: Unwrapping the Christmas Story with Your Family in 15 Days out of my own desire to be more intentional with my children about the reason for Christmas.

Maybe your family is like mine — Christmas consumerism and the December busyness can so easily divert our focus from Jesus’ birth.

When I wrote Countdown to Christmas: Unwrapping the Christmas Story with Your Family in 15 Days,I wanted to center our December on the real Christmas story — the birth of Jesus.

Countdown to Christmas is open-and-go. While it’s hands-on as your kids build the Nativity, there’s no craft list to assemble or globs of glitter to sweep up. The 15-day advent book gives your family margin for evenings out or busy days while counting down to Christmas Day.

This Christmas family devotional will help you:

Unwrap the story of Jesus’ birth in an easy, hands-on way.

Connect a key Bible verse and the devotional to one piece of the Nativity each day.

Prepare your hearts to celebrate Jesus with anticipation.

Countdown to Christmas is created for families who have preschoolers as well as older kids and teens. Even parents will find deep devotion in this advent book.

And today we’re celebrating the RE-launch of Countdown to Christmas! (cue the confetti…!)

First, the book has a whole new look.

Second, you can now download Countdown to Christmas immediately. I heard from so many of you who wanted to download it to your phone, tablet or laptop, so I hope this will make it much easier and accessible for you.

Thank you for helping this book shoot to #1 in children’s holiday books last year!

I’d love for you to share this with friends and family looking for a beautiful tradition to help them center their Christmas on Christ.

Get your copy of Countdown to Christmas: Unwrap the Christmas Story with Your Family in 15 Days here.

When you subscribe to email, I’ll send a FREE copy of the Nativty activity scriptures list.

*post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.

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100 Days with Christ ~ a brand, new resource for you

By Lisa Appelo 52 Comments

I am soooo excited to share a brand new, FREE resource I created just for you! If you’re on the Facebook page, you saw a sneak peek of this a few weeks ago and I’ve been chomping at the bit to release it. So, without further adieu, it’s here!

100 Days with Christ is a free Bible study and journal. The reading plan will let you read the four gospels like never before as you walk chronologically through the life and ministry of Christ. This reading plan harmonizes the accounts of Jesus’ life, teaching and ministry in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and then divides it into daily chunks for Bible reading.

This is an incredible study that grew out of my own Bible reading. In that lull between Christmas and New Years’ Day, I began to think about my Bible reading for this year. I’ve read through the entire Bible in a year before and that was an amazing sweep of the entire Word of God. I’ve also camped out for a time in one of the gospels or done a topical study.

But I’d never sunk down into the life of Christ chronologically. I wanted to know the full context of all that Jesus did and I wanted a street-level view of His life. And so I began to compile and list and flip back and forth among the gospels. I consulted my study Bibles and some other resources and then portioned out all of the reading into daily chunks.

Honestly, I was just going to do this for myself. But as I got into it, I realized it was far, far too good not to share.

100 Days with Christ starts with Jesus in eternity past. Then the reading moves with Him from village to Galilean village, as He teaches and heals and calls men to Himself. We’ll see the miracles and ministry of Jesus in full — fleshed out with the full color and detail that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John uniquely record.

We’ll walk with Jesus step-by-step as He turned toward Jerusalem for that final week — as He taught, rebuked, prepared and prayed and then through His arrest, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.

Oh how I pray that through this journey with Christ in the gospels, we will fall even more deeply in love with our Savior. I pray that our hearts beat for the things that consume Christ. I pray that we understand Jesus’ life and ministry like never before and that we’ll say with Paul, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering…” {Philippians 3:10}

100 Days with Christ includes the daily Bible reading plan, an introduction and instructions for the plan, and journal pages for you to record your notes and prayers.

Two things: First, sign up here to get 100 Days with Christ and join the email list.

Second, gather your supplies for Bible study: These pens are great for writing in your Bible, these are great for highlighting verses or study notes and, if you want to start a separate prayer or thanksgiving journal, this journal or this one are favorites.

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Is it too late to Start Advent?

What is Advent?

Seven Reasons to Celebrate Advent with Your Family

Let’s Countdown to Christmas {and some freebies for you!}

Countdown to Christmas book RE-launch

And today we’re celebrating the RE-launch of Countdown to Christmas! (cue the confetti…!)

Get your copy of Countdown to Christmas: Unwrap the Christmas Story with Your Family in 15 Days here.

When you subscribe to email, I’ll send a FREE copy of the Nativty activity scriptures list.

100 Days with Christ ~ a brand, new resource for you

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