For the second year in a row, my congregation has offered what has become one of my favorite family devotional tools: a countdown candle. This idea was brought to life by an odd combination of things. Namely, a present from a relative in Denmark, a trip to the Dollar Store, and a Men’s Small Group with too much time on their hands. Let me explain.
The Idea.
Since moving to Spokane, WA, I’ve had many more opportunities to get home and visit my parents than I did when I lived across the country. My first Christmas back home, my mom showed me a gift she’d received from her cousin in Denmark. It was a large pillar candle, with 24 marks down the side to serve as a countdown to Christmas. Along with other festive decorations around the sides, it is a beautiful way to mark the passage of time until Christmas.
As much as I loved the candle, something about it kind of bothered me. The process seemed great, but the end was almost anti-climactic. I could only image that you burn the candle down, counting to Christmas, and…. drum roll please…. it goes out! And what are you left with? For me, not the Christmas spirit.
(Side note: As I write this a few years later, I’m pretty sure we’ve never burned that candle. I’m a saver. For example, I love stickers but I hate sticking them to stuff, because once I do they aren’t still available with all their sticker-y potential. It’s weird, I know. But as I write this and think about the fact that we haven’t burned that candle, I’m really hoping that there’s something awesome inside. Something like a little nativity set that’s exposed as the wax melts away. Even if there’s nothing inside, I’m going to pretend there is, and I’ll probably never know differently.)
(getting back on track)
After Christmas, as I was looking ahead to the season of Lent, and making plans for it, I kept coming back to that candle. Marking time, burning out… and then it hit me – Good Friday! How much more meaningful would the burning out of a candle be if we watched it happen on Good Friday? After spending 40 days, watching the candle grow shorter and shorter, how cool would it be to see it go out as Jesus breaths his last?
Here’s the visual impact from Good Friday last year:
The Process.
So once the idea came together, I had to figure out how to make it possible. Previously, at a Parent’s Night Out event before Christmas, we had purchased Dollar Tree LED candles for kids to decorate. They drew pictures on tissue paper, and using wax paper and a hair dryer, we melted those pictures onto a candle. After wrapping the candle up, they took them home to give to their parents as a Christmas present.
Using the same idea, I designed a long, thin chart of the 40 days of Lent (Ash Wednesday through Good Friday, not including Sunday) and carefully printed it on tissue paper, taped to a piece of cardstock. (I didn’t even jam the church copy machine on this project. Our secretary loves it when I try new things :).) After cutting them out, I melted them to Dollar Store taper candles, and ta-da! Countdown candles were born.
The Final Touch.
For holders, my husband is a part of men’s small group which meets in our congregation’s Council President’s shop. I asked them if they could help me make a “Crown of Thorns” candle holder, and with our Christmas tree, some copper pipe, and a bit of barbed wire, they whipped these up!
This year’s candle holder – with a pre-made, 3″ grape vine wreath instead of barbed wire.
Along with the candles, we provide a booklet of readings and blessings based on Faith Inkubator’s Faith5 approach to daily family devotions, and share them on social media.
There you have it – my (current) favorite way to mark time during the season of Lent. Blessings to you throughout this season!