Seeking God in simple ways this Advent season

 

 I so appreciate when Daily Grace Co. shares a seasonal graphic like this one on their Instagram.    It gives me a nice head start on a blog post.  This one is really great for the season of Advent.  These simple ways to seek the Lord in this season are easily within reach of all of us.

🎄Slowing down to reflect on the goodness of God.  This can be so simple.  Just maybe brewing a cup of Christmas tea and reflecting on God's goodness to us for the time it takes to finishing sipping that yummy beverage.  

 

Or it could be taking time to work on an Advent Bible study.  I'm doing Hope Has Come from Daily Grace this year and loving it!  I would have linked to it, but it seems it is no longer available. ( I received it as a gift last year.)  I did find this mug:

 
🎄 Finding ways to experience God's hope, peace, joy, and love.  The study Hope Has Come is giving me ideas for this.  Other ways might be to memorize verses that touch on these topics, or to sing songs, hymns, or carols that emphasize them.  Or simply ask the Lord to make you more aware of these wonderful gifts from Him.  You will be amazed at what He shows you.  A study like the one from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings (see example below) would also be helpful.

🎄 Displaying God's love through acts of service.  This could happen very naturally this time of year when we sing carols in our neighborhoods or at nursing homes, or in a number of other ways.  In our family we baked cookies and shared trays of them, often with a pretty Christmas booklet or card attached, with our neighbors and others who have served us through the year.  I have also taken large cookie trays to the staff at nursing homes or in the emergency department of our local hospital.

 
🎄 Singing Christmas hymns and carols.  Caroling with family, friends, or as a church family is wonderful, but how about also singing a carol as part of your quiet time each morning of advent?  Or read the words of a carol to yourself.  Some carols are based solidly on Scripture.  See how many Scripture quotes or concepts you can find in each one.

🎄Spending time in reflection and prayer for the new year.  This is an absolutely wonderful idea.  I try to do this every year, but am guilty of waiting until the last minute to do so.  Wouldn't it be even more meaningful to spend time reflecting and praying on what you'd like the new year to look like from a spiritual perspective, and to set a few goals to that end, ahead of time?

What a blessing it was to consider these simple ideas for seeking God in this Advent season!  I hope that these ideas were helpful to you, my readers, as well.