Family | Dennis Poulette

Advent Reading Calendar 2020

Advent, the period before Christmas where Christians remember the waiting and anticipation for the coming of the Savior, is a great time for you to begin family devotions at home.

Many believers look for special readings and devotions to prepare their hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Your family can celebrate together by spending a few moments each day reading and discussing a portion of Scripture.

There are many reasons to have family worship at home. It is a great way to lead your family well and help your kids see the beauty of the Scripture as well as give you an opportunity to create lifelong habits and important teachable moments in the lives of your kids.

As I was thinking about leading my family well in Advent season, I began thinking what it would look like to read the entire Christmas story as well as some of the backstory with my family. Then I decided to share with you what I was thinking.

So I put together this printable Advent Reading Calendar for Families.

Some of the readings are short. Others are long. Most of them are (hopefully) just right.

It begins with prophecy to show how God’s people had been waiting for the promised Messiah and then goes through the traditional Christmas readings. The calendar ends with John 3 and praise for what God has done for His people.

I hope it helps your family, kick starts family worship time, and/or just makes it easier for you to lead your kids to worship Jesus during this month.

FREE Printable Advent Reading Calendar

Spend a few minutes each night in December leading up to Christmas understanding from Scripture what Christmas is all about.

Download Here (PDF)

Getting Started with Family Worship

Parents are the primary disciple makers of their children. The Bible is clear that Christian parents are to disciple their children and point them to God, sharing with them and showing them how God is faithful to His promises.

We see the results of the lack of this over and over again, as well, in the Old Testament.

As a Christian parent and one who works with teenagers, I have seen over and over the statistics that say that parents who teach their kids the ways of Jesus and walk with Him themselves have kids who follow and love Jesus for a lifetime.

These reasons are why I have made a few videos over the last few weeks about “family worship.” You might call it “family devotions” or something else, but the reality is that parents should make time to teach their kids the ways of Jesus.

It’s also not that difficult to get started with Family Worship. That’s why I made this video and would love for you to check it out. In it, I talk about Five Tips for Getting Started with Family Worship.

Let me know what you think about the video.

Teach Your Kids, But Let Others Teach Them, Too!

Lesson learned: when you are teaching someone, remember that you’re not the only voice they are listening to (and remember, that’s a good thing).

I posted this video earlier on LinkedIn, and it’s all about how I was bragging on my son during one of our weekly pastor’s meetings. One of the other pastors spoke up that the thing that my son had learned was probably learned during one of the sermons that he had preached and not necessarily something I had taught him.

I know he was kidding, but let me tell you a little secret: I don’t care!

It doesn’t matter who my son learned what he learned from.

What matters is that he is listening and learning.

I learned a long time ago that my kids will not only learn about God from me, but they will learn from others as well. And I am thankful for that. It is a blessing to have others who will speak truth into the lives of my kids.

If you’re a parent, look for others who can speak life into your kids. If you’re an adult, be on the lookout for kids you can mentor. You could make a big difference in someone’s life.

Summer Bucket List for Families

In this video I talk about five principles that will give your family’s summer activities list some clarity.

All the summer bucket list videos and posts make me jealous! The activities might be fun, but before you plan your summer, think through these five principles.

Five Things I Learned from Coaching Soccer

This weekend we wrapped up our soccer season at the Y. We had a fun time. It was my first time coaching my daughter, and it was also her first time playing. She is so fast and had a great season. I could see her playing more soccer in the future. I also had the best assistant coach in the history of soccer (Janell).

I’ve had some time to reflect about the season and what I learned, and I thought I’d share it here. There are some life lessons in here that I hope to remember from our first soccer season together.