Freeze! Family Advent Devotion for Thursday, Dec. 5

Gather: around the Advent wreath and light one purple candle. Remind each other that this is the Hope candle. 

Read Together: Lamentations 3:21-24

“Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.”

Think About:  Sometimes disappointing things happen to us. Friends let us down; we don’t get to do things we want to do; people are unfair. We can be upset and angry or we can be hopeful. The choice is ours.

Jeremiah faced the same choice. When his world came apart after his city was captured by enemies, he wrote the book of Lamentations to share his honest frustrations. But he didn’t settle in his bitterness and stay there. He turned to hope and remembered that God’s love never ends.

The Advent wreath’s round shape has no beginning and no end -- try to find them -- you can’t! It reminds us that God’s love has no beginning and no end; it goes on forever.

Do Together: Pick your favorite circle game or dance. A few suggestions: Ring around the Rosie, When I’m Gone(The Cup Song), Hava Nagila, or another. Do the game or song together. Then, while you are still in a circle, stop and share a time when you were disappointed, but remembered God’s unending love.

Pray Together: Thank you God for loving us all the time without ever stopping. No matter what happens in our lives, you are with us and love us. Amen.