Welcome to “Toyland …Remembering Favorite Childhood Toys Received at Christmas,” our 2016 Advent Devotional! Within these pages church members and friends have shared stories of their favorite childhood toys received at Christmas. As might be expected, a number of stories have focused on dolls. Bicycles have come in second place with trains in third. You will also read stories about Chinese checkers, a teapot, a Matchbox car, a parakeet, a rocking chair, a toboggan and other things. You will learn of sacrifices some givers made to bring happiness to children. You will read of a family heirloom and of toys that were made or refurbished by skillful and talented hands. So you are in for a delightful treat as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth once again.

With a theme such as this one, it would have been hard to select scripture passages that would relate to roller skates or a stuffed toy monkey. For the most part I chose to use the Daily Lectionary found in The Book of Common Worship, focusing on the Psalm selections. I have added in some seasonal texts from the prophets and the Gospels. As much as possible, except for two prayers that were submitted with their stories, I tried to tie the prayer to the stories in some way.

We hope that you will enjoy reading these short stories along with the scripture texts and the prayers as part of your devotional life during the days of Advent. We would also welcome your participation in the Advent Devotional 2017. The theme is: “On the Christmas Treetop, a ____. Check out the back page to learn more about what tops your Christmas tree and how it can be woven into a short story to be of interest to church members and friends.

Blessings to you and yours this Advent Season!
Alan Harvey
Associate Pastor