Monday, December 9, 2013

Advent Countdown - Day 6 - Russia

I was asked if I could start putting the name of the country we studied in the title, and will gladly do so.... in fact, I may attempt to change the others, showing what country we studied.  Things are a little backed up here - fighting a stomach bug :(  But we know that God will see us through this small trial :)

Our Bible reading today was Luke 1:11-17.  This was a continuation of yesterday's reading - the announcement to Zachariah that he and Elizabeth are going to have a son.   This son would be John the Baptist.  He would prepare those of that time for the coming of Christ.

Our focus today was on the country of Russia.  Due to there being more Orthodox Christian Russians,  Christmas is often celebrated on January 7th instead of December 25th.  This is due to the following of the Julian calendar.  Many do not eat meat, if anything at all, on Christmas Eve.

We also looked into the Story of the Babushka.  What an interesting story!  Basically the story is about a Babushka that was visited by the Three Wise Men as they were on the journey to bring their gifts to baby Jesus.  She was invited to go with them, but instead took care of other things first.  By the time she was finished everything to prepare, she was too late and the Baby and His parents had fled to Egypt.  The story goes on to say that she is still searching for Him today.  For me, this story was quite convictional!  It is all too often that I get caught up in things I "need to do," preparing for Christmas, and life in general.  All I really need to do, though, is set that stuff aside and spend time with my Savior!

We read two books today.  The first was The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet, by Deborah Hautzig.  Most people are familiar with this story.  Such a fun story :)  We also read The Trees of the Dancing Goats, by Patricia Polacco.  This story is about a family that helps bring Christmas to its neighbors that are all sick with Scarlet Fever.  It embraces the gift of true friendship and doing for others.

Our craft was a Russian Star Ornament.  We also watched The Nutcracker Ballet :)

I attempted to make Palmeni and Vareniki.  Sadly, my gluten free dough did not hold together, and our dinner was a dismal fail :(

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