I get it. Christmas is about gifts. Whether you hold to the idea that Jesus is the greatest Gift, that The Wise Men gave Jesus gifts or that Santa is the greatest dude alive, gifts are a huge part of Christmas. Here's the thing tho... it's not ALL about the gifts.
I mean, presents are great. We all like receiving gifts. The greatest gift I ever received was the gift of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice paid the price for my sin and acknowledging Him as Savior and Lord secures my place in heaven for eternity. I want to share that with everyone I know. I want my life to reflect my love for and gratitude to Him. Woven in with this, I want the hearts of the people I love filled with memories of laughter and goodness and kindness and love. I do think that there are many ways to make Christmas about more than opening presents.
There are a few obvious traditions that will keep you and your family focused on Christ at Christmas. Among these are having a Nativity set prominent in your home. Even the smallest children enjoy unpacking the Nativity and discussing the characters and reading the story of Jesus's birth. Perhaps you can visit a living Nativity. You can invite someone who is without family to eat Christmas dinner with yours. You can participate in Toys for Tots, Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree or any other organization that provides for children. One year, a friend and I took our children out in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve and left gifts on the porch of a family consisting of a young mom and her 4 little kids. It brought all of us SUCH joy!
My family has a "tradidtion" that happened completely by accident. One Christmas Eve, when Izzy was really little, I took her, Brian and a lady I'd just met to look at Christmas lights. The lady had no car, so I used "looking at Christmas Lights" as an excuse to have some time with her (so that I could share the message of Jesus with her). We went to Waffle House afterward and talked a bit more about Jesus and the difference He made in my life. The next year on Christmas Eve, my family and our then Youth Pastor's family went and looked at Christmas lights and then went to Waffle House (because nothing else was open)... and a tradition was born. Now it's a "thing" with my kids. They invite their friends and their friends' families. We end the evening with Waffle House. They love it and I love them.
I tried giving my kids an ornament every year. That's been hit and miss. Maybe I'll do better with them as adults. We'll see.
My friend Tashia has her kids put hand prints on her Christmas tree skirt each year.
I saw a neat idea on Pinterest (imagine that) where you have all the people present at your Thanksgiving dinner sign the table cloth. Use the same cloth each year. In time, those signatures will be a treasure! Same could be done for Christmas.
I like the idea of writing a letter to the people I love. I suppose this is a given for me being that I am such a lover of words. Surprisingly, though I have considered this many times, I don't think I have ever done it. I do think that Christmas is a nice time to tell the people God has given me that I am thankful to Him for them. Maybe this is something I'll start.
That's all I've got for today....
K
I mean, presents are great. We all like receiving gifts. The greatest gift I ever received was the gift of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice paid the price for my sin and acknowledging Him as Savior and Lord secures my place in heaven for eternity. I want to share that with everyone I know. I want my life to reflect my love for and gratitude to Him. Woven in with this, I want the hearts of the people I love filled with memories of laughter and goodness and kindness and love. I do think that there are many ways to make Christmas about more than opening presents.
There are a few obvious traditions that will keep you and your family focused on Christ at Christmas. Among these are having a Nativity set prominent in your home. Even the smallest children enjoy unpacking the Nativity and discussing the characters and reading the story of Jesus's birth. Perhaps you can visit a living Nativity. You can invite someone who is without family to eat Christmas dinner with yours. You can participate in Toys for Tots, Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree or any other organization that provides for children. One year, a friend and I took our children out in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve and left gifts on the porch of a family consisting of a young mom and her 4 little kids. It brought all of us SUCH joy!
My family has a "tradidtion" that happened completely by accident. One Christmas Eve, when Izzy was really little, I took her, Brian and a lady I'd just met to look at Christmas lights. The lady had no car, so I used "looking at Christmas Lights" as an excuse to have some time with her (so that I could share the message of Jesus with her). We went to Waffle House afterward and talked a bit more about Jesus and the difference He made in my life. The next year on Christmas Eve, my family and our then Youth Pastor's family went and looked at Christmas lights and then went to Waffle House (because nothing else was open)... and a tradition was born. Now it's a "thing" with my kids. They invite their friends and their friends' families. We end the evening with Waffle House. They love it and I love them.
I tried giving my kids an ornament every year. That's been hit and miss. Maybe I'll do better with them as adults. We'll see.
My friend Tashia has her kids put hand prints on her Christmas tree skirt each year.
I saw a neat idea on Pinterest (imagine that) where you have all the people present at your Thanksgiving dinner sign the table cloth. Use the same cloth each year. In time, those signatures will be a treasure! Same could be done for Christmas.
I like the idea of writing a letter to the people I love. I suppose this is a given for me being that I am such a lover of words. Surprisingly, though I have considered this many times, I don't think I have ever done it. I do think that Christmas is a nice time to tell the people God has given me that I am thankful to Him for them. Maybe this is something I'll start.
That's all I've got for today....
K
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