Waiting With Wonder was created especially for families with preschool and elementary-aged children, roughly ages 2–10. The rhyming devotionals, simple questions, colorful illustrations, and hands-on activities are all designed with little attention spans in mind. Older and younger siblings can absolutely join in, too! 

The devotional was designed to grow with your family–there are some deeper spiritual truths that the little ones won’t catch, included intentionally to encourage the grown-ups and older siblings reading along.

Each day is intentionally short enough for real family life. Each devotional itself takes less than two minutes to read. Hanging the ornament, discussing the three simple questions, and praying will expand this to about 4-5 minutes. 

Some activities are quick add-ons taking less than 1-2 minutes, while others extend into play that can last as long as your family is enjoying it. You can keep it short and sweet or linger a little longer when your family wants to.

Because little kids are wired for rhythm and repetition! Rhyme makes language engaging, memorable, and fun to listen to—and can help young children stay connected to a story. Each devotional uses rhyme to make big biblical truths a little easier for little minds to follow and remember. As a parent, I find myself remembering some key rhyming lines from the devotional too!

Each of the 25 days includes a short, illustrated, rhyming devotional that moves through the story of Scripture toward Jesus, along with a corresponding ornament, and a Wonder, Pray, Play section.

Wonder gives your family three simple question to talk about (the first gets kids talking, the second reflects on the story, and the third connects the story to Christmas). Pray helps you respond to what you've learned together. Play offers an easy, hands-on way to reinforce the day's truth in a way that delights kids without burdening the grown-ups who love them.

No! You can prep the ornaments in advance if you’d like, but Waiting With Wonder was made with real kids—and real grown-ups—in mind. Activities use simple things you likely already have at home (if they require any materials at all–many don’t), and are designed to require no advance preparation. Everything you need to guide your family through Advent is right there in the book.

It actually begins much earlier! Rather than starting at the manger, Waiting With Wonder begins with creation and follows the big story of Scripture as it builds toward Jesus.

Along the way, children see our need for a Rescuer, discover God's promises, learn about key people who show us what the Rescuer would be like, hear from the prophets, experience the waiting—and finally arrive at the birth of Jesus. On Christmas Day, we zoom back out to see how Jesus is the One the whole Bible has been pointing toward all along.

Waiting With Wonder is a Christian devotional rooted in the Bible and centered on the gospel: God created us and loves us, sin separates us from Him, and Jesus is the promised Rescuer, the second person of the Trinity, who came to save us.

The goal is to introduce these big truths in language young children can begin to understand while keeping Scripture—not any particular tradition or denomination—at the center. Waiting With Wonder was reviewed by multiple seminary-trained friends of the author.

Waiting With Wonder is independently published, so commissioning a full set of original illustrations wasn’t financially feasible for a project of this size. An alternative approach was needed to make this idea a reality. The illustrations were created using the generative AI tool Midjourney under the creative direction of the author, and each finished illustration was intentionally selected and refined by the author to support the story being told.

Transparency around the use of AI matters to us, so its role in the illustrations is also disclosed on the copyright page of the book.

The book includes 25 perforated/punch-out ornaments—one for each day of the Advent devotional. Each ornament connects to that day's devotional, giving kids a tangible way to remember the story as it unfolds.

You can simply punch a hole in the ornament, tie a string, and hang it on a special tree or garland. You can make it even simpler by using a clothes pin to hang the ornaments on a string wherever you read your devotional, or you can get crafty and attach the paper designs to 3 inch wooden ornaments. There are even needlepoint designs available for download!

You'll also find a QR code in the book that gives you access to free printable versions, so you can print another set whenever you'd like.

The journey begins December 1 and ends on Christmas Day—but Advent doesn't have to be done perfectly to be meaningful.

Miss a day? Pick back up tomorrow. Read two together if you can (just pick your favorite questions/activity for that day), or simply keep moving forward. The goal isn't to check every box. It's to spend the season helping your family see the wonder of God coming down to us at Christmas, just like He said He would.