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Shepherd on The Search Advent Devotional & Countdown Calendar: 12 Days of Christmas | Vlogmas Day 1
Dec 13, 2025
Hey friends!
Happy holidays and welcome to my short 12 Days of Christmas Vlogs Day 1 for Christmas 2025. Excited to kick off the series with an advent devotion, fun activity for the littles and a countdown calendar. Hope you enjoy! Tomorrow we'll be getting into some homemaking, homeschool, and catch up a bit!
Products mentioned:
Shepherd on The Search: https://amzn.to/3MydeoG
Shepherd on The Search Devotional: https://amzn.to/4545fWE
Shepherd on The Search Calendar: https://amzn.to/4rZap0g
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi friends, welcome. My name is Heaven
0:01
and today we're going to get into all
0:03
the Christmas advent things. So, I'm so
0:05
excited to share this with you guys
0:06
because it's going to be very unique and
0:08
different from what a lot of people do.
0:11
So, I'm just going to go ahead and just
0:12
jump right in. So, this is what we're
0:15
going to be starting out with. This is
0:17
the shepherd on the search. It's all
0:19
about finding Christ in Christmas. And I
0:22
absolutely love this. We used this last
0:24
year. And basically, it helps you to
0:27
tell your child about a shepherd's
0:29
journey each year around the Christmas
0:31
season and how he's on the search to
0:33
find Jesus. It comes with an illustrated
0:36
book that you can read to your child.
0:38
starting out and we did this last year
0:40
and it's similar to the elf on the shelf
0:44
concept, but instead of playing little
0:46
tricks and watching out for Santa, this
0:49
little shepherd is encouraging you to be
0:52
on the search and finding Jesus all
0:54
around you in the Christmas season,
0:56
learning more about him. Instead of
0:58
having like Santa Claus watching over
0:59
you, it's the concept and idea that God
1:01
is watching over you always. So, here's
1:04
our little shepherd, and I can't
1:05
remember if he has a name or not. poor
1:07
thing. But here he is and he has his
1:10
little shepherd hook, his little
1:12
sandals. He's literally the cutest. This
1:14
little guy is going to be coming out on
1:16
December the 1st. And it comes with the
1:20
cutest little setup here. So, let me
1:21
show you guys the booklet. This is the
1:24
Shepherd on the Search book by Josh and
1:27
Lindsay Helms.
1:30
Beautiful. And so basically this is a
1:33
book that you can read on day one when
1:35
you pull the shepherd out. And it says
1:37
when the angels visited the shepherds to
1:39
tell them the good news. Your shepherd
1:41
set off on an epic journey to find the
1:43
newborn baby the angels had told them
1:45
about. The journey begins a new every
1:47
Christmas season and ends on Christmas
1:49
day when your shepherd finds his way to
1:51
the manger to worship baby Jesus. Read
1:54
the story of the shepherd's journey and
1:55
let the fun begin every day as you find
1:57
him in a new place along the search.
1:59
Adopt a special tradition as your own
2:01
and your family will love helping your
2:02
shepherd retell this timeless story year
2:04
after year focusing on the true meaning
2:06
of Jesus. Here's the story about the
2:09
shepherd on his search. It's such a
2:12
really really nice and cute story. You
2:15
can tell it every year. Doesn't get old.
2:20
It also explains to your child where the
2:22
shepherd just comes from and the whole
2:24
idea of it. You can pass this book down
2:27
later on. It has a little note. It says,
2:28
"The shepherd on the search tradition
2:30
has been passed on to by such and such."
2:33
So you could pass it down to your
2:35
grandchildren. So the idea is that on
2:37
Christmas day, the shepherd finds Jesus.
2:40
So you're on a search to find Jesus. And
2:43
so it comes inside of this little box
2:45
here. And the box looks kind of like a
2:48
manger if you set things up next to each
2:50
other. And if you have like a nativity
2:52
set or a nativity scene, you could also
2:54
like put them in there or have the
2:56
shepherd sitting next to the scene. We
2:58
like to put these things like right up
3:00
underneath the star next to the
3:02
Christmas tree because it could resemble
3:04
the star of Bethlehem. So, it's a really
3:07
cute thing that you can do so much with
3:09
it. Um, so along with that, they have
3:11
like other little accessories and things
3:13
that you can purchase as well. This is a
3:14
25day family devotional book. You can
3:18
read one short page every single day. It
3:21
makes your whole Shepherd on the search
3:23
thing a lot easier. It has an
3:24
introduction starts on December the 1st
3:27
and it also has a scripture that you can
3:30
read as well as like a little story. If
3:32
you guys hear in the background the
3:33
television, my husband is keeping the
3:34
kids busy because I just finished
3:35
wrapping Christmas gifts and I don't
3:38
want them to hear me talking about
3:40
Shepherd on the Search just to keep it,
3:42
you know, as fun and magical as I can.
3:44
It's just a little devotional, one page
3:47
front and back, 25 Days for Christmas.
3:50
So, I bought this separately because I
3:52
thought that would be our little
3:53
devotion that we can all do as a family
3:55
and read one page every day like
3:57
breakfast time or dinner time. I also
3:59
got these encouraging notes for K. It's
4:02
32 messages of God's love for your
4:04
child. And so, I thought that these are
4:06
really cute because you can kind of just
4:07
like stick them on the side with the
4:09
shepherd on the days when they find the
4:12
shepherd like on a different, you know,
4:14
in a different area. For instance, this
4:15
says, "Every year at Christmas time,
4:16
carolers love to sing to certain lowly
4:19
shepherds how they came to find a king."
4:21
So, it's like leaving little notes to
4:22
your kids about God and Jesus. God began
4:26
doing a good work in you and he will
4:27
continue it until it is finished. I'm
4:29
sure of that. Philippians 1:6. So, lots
4:32
of little verses and lots of little
4:35
scriptures. This one says, "Sleep tight.
4:36
God is watching over you. He's always
4:38
watching, never sleeping." And it also
4:41
has a Psalms chapter 121. It wasn't easy
4:44
for the shepherd to find baby Jesus, but
4:46
I can do all things through Christ
4:48
because he gives me strength. A whole
4:50
booklet of these and you can just
4:52
reurpose them every single year. Like
4:54
just keep them, leave little notes
4:56
throughout the house and things like
4:57
that. I still have like some of them
4:59
from last year and sometimes I would
5:01
like write a little note on there in the
5:03
back because you can write on the back
5:05
of it if you want to. Um but super
5:08
adorable. So, the last thing that I
5:11
purchased in addition um and then they
5:14
also have like so many ways that you can
5:16
make this easy on yourself not having to
5:18
think of these ideas. There are these
5:20
cards that pretty much can tell you what
5:22
to do on the days of your search if you
5:24
just don't know what to do. For
5:26
instance, this one says day two of your
5:28
search, the thought for the day, an
5:30
activity and a memory verse. So yeah, I
5:33
know it's becoming a lot. So you don't
5:35
have to do everything every day, but
5:37
there's so much for you to do to enjoy
5:39
with your family. Talking about God,
5:40
talking about Jesus and Christmas.
5:43
Advent means coming. Who is coming? The
5:45
baby Jesus is coming. It's his birthday.
5:47
Are you excited for the baby Jesus? The
5:49
shepherd was so excited for the baby
5:50
Jesus that he went on a long journey to
5:52
find him. Begin your game of searching
5:55
for the shepherd in a new place every
5:57
day to remind you of his journey to find
5:59
Jesus. On Christmas morning, your
6:01
shepherd should be at the manger with a
6:03
sleeping baby is lying. Do you have a
6:05
manger scene or a nativity in your home?
6:07
So, these cards are for you yourself,
6:11
not for your child. These one's for your
6:13
child. You know, the little notes. Um,
6:15
and then the devotional book for the
6:16
family. And this one is just for you to
6:19
help you figure out your thoughts for
6:20
the day to explain to your child the
6:22
activity that you could do as well as
6:24
the the memory verse. So, you get a
6:26
whole bunch of these, 25, one for each
6:29
day, in case you are not sure what to
6:32
do. Another thing that I found, and I'll
6:34
try to find it a link down below on
6:36
Etsy, was a Shepherd on the Search
6:38
printout. I think it was like maybe $2,
6:40
just a couple of bucks, and it had very,
6:43
very easy setups and activities for
6:46
every single day, plus some extra ones
6:49
in case maybe you don't like the ones
6:50
that were on there for that day. They're
6:52
just very easy, simple ones that you
6:55
could use. But I also went an extra step
6:58
further, you guys, because last year,
7:00
even with all this stuff, I found myself
7:02
sometimes forgetting to print things
7:03
out, to write things out, to set things
7:06
up. So this year, I bought the Elf on
7:08
the Shelf 24-day kit because this kit is
7:11
so super adorable because it comes with
7:13
different props and things like that.
7:15
Like it's literally adorable. Like one
7:17
of them down here has like a little
7:18
Christmas tree, a railroad track, and
7:20
everything. has a little gingerbread man
7:22
with the fireplace. So, it has like
7:23
backdrops and it also has like little
7:25
pieces. It has 24 idea packs for quick
7:28
setup. So, a whole pack to set up your
7:31
scene. 24 packs of it. Comes with all
7:33
the props, the backdrops, and
7:35
everything. It's 100 pieces in here, you
7:37
guys. So, here is just some of the stuff
7:39
that comes in this kit. The backdrops
7:41
are double-sided. I didn't get this kit
7:43
last year because we purchased all of
7:45
those things plus the actual Shepherd on
7:47
the Search itself. And I didn't want to
7:48
go too crazy expensive. I don't like to
7:51
get too too crazy when it comes to
7:52
spending money surrounding Christmas and
7:54
everything like that. So, last year I
7:56
just focused on buying the shepherd as
7:59
well as the devotional book, the note
8:00
cards and all of that. This year, we
8:02
went with this adorable little note
8:05
pack. It has one for like making
8:06
cookies, for writing a little note to
8:09
Santa or making a birthday card for
8:12
Jesus. Um, it has so many cool little
8:16
setups. I think it has like a little
8:17
shovel here where you can pour out like
8:19
some sugar or flour or whatever and
8:21
pretend like they're shoveling some
8:23
snow. It has toaster for like making
8:25
breakfast. It just has the cutest little
8:27
cutest little tank. It even has like
8:28
sand castles and things like that which
8:30
I think is also adorable especially
8:31
because now that we relocated and are
8:33
having Christmas in Florida. So this is
8:35
just another way to make it easy if you
8:37
don't want to go through the trouble of
8:39
printing things out, setting things up.
8:41
It's just open up a package, set it up,
8:43
you're good to go. just make sure that
8:45
you include all of this stuff here to
8:48
keep the focus on Jesus and what
8:50
Christmas is truly about. In addition to
8:52
that, another thing that we like to do
8:54
every single year, we've been doing this
8:55
for I want to say 2 or 3 years now, is
8:57
our advent calendar. Countdown calendar.
9:00
So, it's a countdown calendar that just
9:02
helps my son keep track of Christmas
9:04
coming. And every day I put a little
9:05
something small in there like a little
9:06
candy cane or a little treat or a little
9:09
$1 activity from the dollar store,
9:11
things like that because the pockets are
9:13
pretty small. So this year I went with
9:14
this one because it's super adorable and
9:16
I was like, "Oh my goodness, it matches
9:18
our whole little theme. Comes with a
9:22
little shepherd." And I didn't know
9:24
because last year I took this little guy
9:26
and I just stuck him in the pocket. Um
9:29
we just had a regular Christmas tree one
9:31
back in Michigan, but this is the one
9:33
we'll keep here. It says, "You will seek
9:35
me and find me when you seek me with all
9:37
your heart." Jeremiah 29:13 from the New
9:40
International Version. And so it has 25
9:43
days and you start with day one and you
9:46
put it in there to help your child
9:48
countdown all the way till Christmas. So
9:50
you don't necessarily have to put a
9:52
treat in here. You could just put this
9:54
little guy in there and then talk about
9:58
one of the pages from your advent
10:00
calendar and read it and things like
10:02
that. That takes away the stress of
10:03
having to buy things to put in here. Or
10:06
you could literally just put like a
10:07
large bag of candy and just put a
10:10
different piece of candy in there every
10:11
day or you know whatever you like to do.
10:14
It doesn't have to be super crazy. And
10:15
then on day 24, you read this little
10:18
card. Just like the shepherd has been
10:19
seeking the baby Jesus, we've been
10:21
getting excited to celebrate Jesus as
10:22
our savior. God's greatest gift for us,
10:25
the gift that we can give him all year
10:26
long is to remember that he is always
10:28
with us, loving us, helping us, and
10:30
shining through us as we show his love
10:32
to others. So that one is on Christmas
10:34
Eve. And then on Christmas day, we read
10:36
this one here and it says, "Happy
10:38
birthday, Jesus. May we seek you with
10:40
our whole hearts, our beloved savior and
10:42
prince of peace." So, cards. Absolutely
10:46
love it. So, we'll probably put like
10:48
maybe a little piece of candy in there.
10:50
Like I mentioned, if we can find like a
10:52
small activity, possibly maybe nothing
10:54
too crazy. Last year, I was putting him
10:56
like toys in there every year. Um, this
10:59
year we'll save toys for Christmas and
11:01
try to take the focus off the toys and
11:03
make all the days leading up to
11:05
Christmas, the focus mainly on Jesus.
11:08
And then, like I said, the candy
11:09
something small, something simple just
11:11
to make it a little bit more enticing
11:14
maybe, but we don't want to take the
11:16
focus off of, you know, Jesus. And
11:18
sometimes I realize like last year my
11:20
son woke up looking forward to finding
11:23
the shepherd but also looking forward to
11:25
what his treat was inside of the
11:26
calendar as if he's not getting a ton of
11:29
toys on Christmas. So I want to reel it
11:31
back in a little bit and try to find
11:32
much much much more simple things. Maybe
11:34
even just a candy cane, a piece of
11:36
chocolate, you know, activities.
11:39
Activities are good, but like a new toy.
11:41
We're not going to do that every day. So
11:43
this is what the calendar looks like.
11:44
and I'm going to sneak into his room the
11:46
morning of December 1st and we're going
11:48
to have a little shepherd sitting next
11:50
to the book so that we can read the book
11:53
together and then when we sit down that
11:54
morning some at some point maybe for
11:56
lunch we'll do our day one devotion
11:59
together. So that is what we are going
12:01
to be doing this year. I didn't purchase
12:03
a new advent this year. I actually like
12:06
this 25day devotional um that we can do
12:09
as a family every single day after you
12:12
finish your devotional for the day.
12:13
There are more um scriptures and
12:16
chapters and things like that if you
12:17
want to go on a deeper dive into the
12:19
Bible with your kiddos. Um but this is
12:22
this is really a good route, good way to
12:24
go. It's just a 25-day devotional book
12:26
which will help you begin a wonderful
12:28
new family tradition as you journey with
12:30
the shepherd to find Christ in Christmas
12:32
in the days leading up to Christmas
12:33
morning. It is filled with fun
12:35
interactive reflections told from the
12:37
perspective of our very own shepherd
12:39
that will deepen our family's wonder of
12:41
that first Christmas. It also includes
12:44
daily scripture readings, suggestions
12:46
for discussion and special activities,
12:49
daily prayers, and a section with the
12:52
Christmas story scriptures. Love all of
12:54
that, you guys. It's really, really
12:56
great. Here is the Christmas story.
12:58
Scriptures as the Virgin Mary, Mary's
13:01
visit, Mary's praises to God, the birth
13:04
of Jesus, how some shepherds hear about
13:06
Jesus, wise men comes to visit Jesus,
13:10
Jesus's parents take him to Egypt, Jesus
13:12
is presented in the temple, Simon sees
13:15
Jesus, Anna sees Jesus, Joseph and Mary
13:18
return home, and then a special place
13:21
for recording any memories or
13:22
significant thoughts from my family's
13:24
devotional journey at Christmas. It has
13:26
a few pages so that you can continue to
13:28
do this throughout the years. But it's a
13:29
really good promotional show. I just
13:31
wanted to share that with you guys in
13:32
case maybe this is something that you
13:34
would be interested in as well. I'll
13:35
have it linked down below in the
13:36
description box for you guys. But that
13:38
is what we are doing this year. So by
13:41
the time that you guys see this video,
13:43
we will have already began our Shepherd
13:46
on the Search. It's never too late to
13:48
join the party. You can also purchase it
13:50
and try it out for next year. So, I hope
13:52
that you guys enjoyed seeing something a
13:54
little bit different this year outside
13:56
of the Elf on the Shelf. Um, and just
13:59
kind of getting a look into what our
14:01
Christmas season looks like and the
14:02
holiday season looks like for our family
14:04
as a Christian family. Um, if you
14:06
enjoyed this video, I hope that you give
14:07
it a thumbs up and I hope that you guys
14:09
are having a wonderful holiday season.
14:12
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14:16
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14:17
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14:24
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14:26
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14:33
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14:35
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14:36
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interested. But yeah, subscribe if
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you're new, like this video if you
14:43
enjoyed it, and I will see you guys in
14:45
the next one. Happy homemaking and happy
14:47
holidays.