I mentioned yesterday that so many times we, as Christians, come to Christmas and say it will be different. We remember years past when we have been caught up in all of hype of Christmas. We focus on the gift giving and receiving. We are running around from one Christmas activity to another. We are visiting or hosting family. And somewhere in the middle of all of this we are to remember the meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. He is Emmanuel, God with us.
So as this Christmas comes I am again thinking of promises to make it different. I want to simplify Christmas and get less caught up in the Christmas activities and get caught up in the Christmas Spirit.
Helen and I have been encouraging our families to give fewer gifts to each other and find some ministry that we can support instead. It is tough for some to change the traditions of the past. We know we remember Christmas for getting great gifts, but we would like our children to remember Christmas for celebrating Jesus' birthday and giving great gifts to those in need in this world. We know it is up to us to change our traditions to be about celebrating God in this world instead of celebrating worldliness.
Do any of you have traditions that celebrate this giving spirit of Christmas? Let me know where you and your family have developed Christmas traditions that may be different than other traditions. And may we prepare for a special Christmas this year.
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Hi James, one thing that is a fairly recent change in our giftgiving happened when Jeana was born. Jamie asked that we only gift our only and first grandchild with three gifts that first Christmas. The three gifts were to signify the Magi's gifts to Jesus and serve as reminder of His birth. Of course, Grandma had to get creative and stuff as much as possible into those three boxes. However, now we are seven years into this philosophy and we have all embraced it. I only give three gifts to each of my children and grandchildren and no longer cram six Barbies (with accesories) into a backpack to count as one gift. And as usual, next year will be different and we won't spend as much....blah, blah,blah. We've all heard it all before! Jeanie
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