This is part of the series The Gifts Of The Holidays: Celebrating Thanksgiving And Christmas. Read more from the series!

My family has a tradition that I’d never heard of when I was a kid: Christmas Eve services.

I first heard of this idea when I started my first youth ministry in El Dorado Springs, Missouri. We had a candle light and communion service on Christmas Eve. It was a completely new idea for me.

Here’s the basic concept: On Christmas Eve, churches gather for a special service, incorporating Christmas carols, candles, and communion. It’s brief, but very special.

As a kid, I’d never even heard of this. My family always spent Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family. If my church had one of these services, I never knew about it.

But now, it has become a very special part of our celebration.

I love the time it gives for my family to remember specifically the sacrifice that the baby in the manger came to be. It brings it home for us.

This is part of the series The Gifts Of The Holidays: Celebrating Thanksgiving And Christmas. Read more from the series!

This year, we’ve started a new tradition: Family Advent Nights.

So far, we’ve done this three times, and my kids love it! I have to admit, I do too…

Let me tell you up front that this is not my idea originally. Although we’ve made a few changes that fit our family better, I discovered this idea on the Familyman Ministry blog. This site is an incredible resource for men who want to be the best dads and husbands that they can be. I suggest you check it out.

Here’s the concept. Once a week, for the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we gather as a family after dinner. We start off with a simple craft. Our first week, the kids crafted a simple woven placemat. The next week, we made wreath ornaments out of buttons and pipe cleaners. This week, we colored gift bags. The crafts are simple, yet fun. I ordered a kit with all four crafts in it from Familyman Ministries. It was extremely inexpensive. See the kit here.

After the craft session, we head out into the living room for some deeper family togetherness. We start off by lighting a candle (or more) on our Advent wreath. While this is burning, we read a passage from the Bible coinciding with the week of Advent we are in. Again, the Familyman website has specific details. My older kids take turns reading parts of the passage, and then we pray.