This week's blog comes from my partner in life and mother of our eight children - Jennifer Donnelly. She is a homeschooling Mom and always looks for ways to teach Biblical truth to our kids.
Keeping Christ at the center of Christmas shouldn’t be hard after all it is CHRIST-mas, right? In a society where commercialism and secular thinking has in many ways stolen one of our dearest Christian holidays, we have to be intentional to keep it Christ focused. I find in our home it is the small conversations and intentional traditions that make all the difference. But isn’t that true in all of life? We can choose to teach good principles, or we can chose to teach those same principles but take the time to explain why and incorporate the Bible. In Deuteronomy 6:5-9 we are told to continually teach our children the things of the Lord - "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."
Since we are told to constantly point our children to the truths found in the Bible, Christmas is a great time to focus on all God has done for us. In that light, I thought I would share some traditions we have in our family that keep us focused on Christ.
One thing we try to do as a family is to find a project or need that helps us focus on others. This year we had fun getting items for a resident of a nursing home. One year our children voted to give all their Christmas presents to a missionary family. The parents provided a long list of needs and wants and we got everything they requested and more and shipped it to Africa. Our children were so excited about giving so much and it was one of our sweetest Christmases. The surprise and joy on their faces Christmas morning when they saw that somehow there was money left over for a big family gift, was priceless.
Another tradition we have, is doing special family devotions each December to prepare for Christmas. This is our second year using an advent tree. Each day the children put an ornament on the little tree, and we read a Bible lesson that points to the coming Savior. Hard to believe this five-minute devotional could be so meaningful, but there is so much joy as the children take turns opening the little boxes each day.
On Christmas Eve we emphasize how special the candlelight service is. We try to spend time preparing for the service instead of rushing around getting ready for the next day even thought that means finishing the wrapping after the children are in bed. We are not perfect at this but try to keep Christmas Eve calm. The children wear their special Christmas dresses and suits and look their best for this special service. When we arrive home, we have snacks and the children have a new pair of pj’s wrapped and waiting for them in the living room, a tradition passed down from my grandparents.
Last year for the first time we covered the living room doorway with wrapping paper. There is nothing spiritual about that but it gave us the joy of seeing the reactions on our children’s faces when they saw the wrapped gifts under the tree for the first time. This is a new tradition we will continue.
Another Christmas morning tradition is when we are all gathered together(including the teenagers we drag out of bed), the children have to find Jesus! Well, we always need to be looking for Jesus but on Christmas morning we hide Jesus from our nativity set and the child that finds it, gets to open the first gift. This is a tiny way we remind them that our focus is Jesus. Daddy then reads Luke 2 from the Bible and we pray and then the craziness of presents begins. We take turns opening gifts one at a time. This allows us to enjoy a calmer morning and take time to show gratitude and thankfulness.
Remember it doesn’t have to be big things, it can be simple moments and conversations. Every time we give a gift, we try to emphasize that we give gifts at Christmas because God gave us the best gift of all when he sent Jesus. When we make cookies for others or deliver gifts to the elderly, we emphasize that we are serving the Lord and praise the children for their efforts. Those mini moments can mean the difference between a meaningless Christmas and a Christ centered CHRISTmas.
~ Jen (wife to my favorite Pastor and mom to 8)