| When Ethan and I got married, we
found that we had nothing in common when it came
to Christmas. Our family always took our time,
opening each present individually so everyone
could enjoy the delight of the recipient. My
husband's family hands out all of the gifts at
once, and in a mad rush the presents are done. My
family always has eggnog and Danish, his family
feasts on cold proschuto and cheese balls. I decided that we needed
a set of traditions to call our own. We wanted to
make sure that our children understood what
Christmas was really all about, and we wanted to
create memorable traditions that they could look
forward to year after year.
It's true that
we all celebrate the holidays differently, but
here are a few ideas to help you form your own
Family traditions.
-Decorations-
One way that
most people celebrate Christmas is by decorating
the house and a Christmas tree. A good way to
make those decorations more meaningful is to make
them symbolic of different parts of the story.
-Evergreen
Trees
The evergreen
tree never looses its color, reminding us that
God's gift to us is eternal life as it says in I
John 5:11, and we serve a God who is unchanging.
-Christmas
Lights
In John 9:5
Jesus says "While I am in the world, I am
the light of the world.," and it says in
Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the
world..." vs 16 "In the same way, let
your light shine before men, that they may see
your good deeds and praise your Father in
heaven."
-Red
Decorations
Red can
symbolize the love God has for us. A good
scripture for this would be John 3:16. It could
also stand for Christ's blood.
-Green
Decorations
Green is the
color of life. It can remind us that we have life
through Christ, and that more abundantly. Jesus
also said "I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life, no man comes to the Father but by me."
-Blue
Decorations
The color blue
is often associated with water. Jesus calls
himself living water when he is talking with the
Samaritan woman. It could also remind us of
Jesus' baptism.
-Gold
and Silver Decorations
Gold and Silver
often remind us of royalty. Jesus is the King of
kings as it says in Rev.1:5
-Tree
Toppers
Stars or angels
on top of the tree can remind us of the star of
Bethlehem or the angel that announced the
Savior's birth.
-The
Christmas Tree-
The tree is like
an arrow pointing up to heaven, and the gifts can
symbolize the presents that the wise men brought
to honor Jesus.
-Santa
Claus-
In today's
society it is easy to get caught up in what we
call the "gimmies." Santa Claus is a
magical elf who delivers whatever the heart
desires right to your door on Christmas eve, and
everyone worries about how much they spent, and
whether their gift is up to par. It would be
great if we could shield our children from these
influences, but it isn't practical or realistic.
Here are some ways to make the trappings of the
season point back to Christ:
In our home the
children all know that there is no jolly little
elf in a bright red suit, not for real anyway.
They also know that it is O.K. to make believe
that Santa comes down the chimney and delivers
toys to every boy and girl. We talked about who
St. Nicholas really was, and why he gave gifts to
the children and poor. I explained that the way
people can see that we love Jesus is by loving
one another. I also showed them in the Bible were
it says that when you give you should not let
your right hand know what your left hand is
doing. That is why we sometimes write 'From:
Santa.', We don't want them to know who it is
from.
Rudolph can be
an example of how we, as Christians, light the
way for the rest of the reindeer. It also
illustrates how God's Word is a light for us.
-Counting
the Days-
I always love a
new advent calendar, it seems to help add to the
excitement of Christmas day even more. There are
calendars with farm animals, candy, toys, Disney
characters, and every thing else you can imagine,
but I always have trouble finding one that tells
the story of Christ.
Here is a neat
idea I heard from a friend:
You sit down
with your children and cut 25 strips of colored
construction paper.
Print this list
out, and cut it so that you can glue one section
of text on each strip of paper. It can be hand
written if you don't have a printer. Remember to
alternate colors. We use a different color of
paper for each child, but use at least two colors
even if you have only one child.
Make a paper
chain with your child by stapling or taping the
strips into links. Be sure to put the strips on
in numerical order.
Hang your chain
up in a easy to see place, and tell your child
"This is how long it is until
Christmas." Each night take one loop off of
the chain and read the inside. Talk about what
you read and hang the strip up on a door post or
tape it to a piece of paper. Be sure to start
with 1 not 25. On Christmas day reread the whole
story together.
1.
Luke 1:26--Once, long ago, God sent an angel to
tell good news to a girl named Mary. She was very
surprised. Tell me about a time when you were
surprised.
2.
Luke 1:30-31--The angel said to Mary, "Do
not be afraid. You will soon have a baby named
Jesus." Have you ever been afraid?
3.
Luke 1:35--The angel told Mary, "Your baby
will be God's child." Let's sing a Christmas
song about this baby.
4.
Luke 1:34-38--Mary said, "I don't understand
everything you say, but I know God will take care
of me." We don't understand everything God
says, but God will take care of us, too.
5.
Luke 1:46-54--Mary made up a song about how good
God is. What song would you like to sing now?
6.
Luke 1:46-54--Mary thanked God for His gifts to
her. For which of God's gifts would you like to
say "thank you" right now?
7.
Luke 2:1-5--Mary and Joseph went on a long trip.
Have you ever been on a long trip? Where did you
go?
8.
Luke 2:1-5--Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to
be counted with Joseph's family. Bethlehem was
their home town. Do you know what your hometown
is?
9.
Luke 2:3-4--Joseph belonged to the same family as
King David. David was Joseph's relative. Who are
some of your relatives?
10.
Luke 2:4-5--Mary rode a donkey and Joseph walked
all the way to Bethlehem. When you've gone on a
long trip, did you have to ride a donkey? How did
you travel?
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11.
Luke 2:5-6--When Mary and Joseph got to
Bethlehem, they were tired. They needed to find a
good place to rest. When you are tired, where do
you like to rest?
12.
Luke 2:6-7--When Mary and Joseph got to
Bethlehem, all the rooms and all the beds were
full. They could not find any place to stay.
Where do you stay when you travel?
13.
Luke 2:6-7--Joseph and Mary had to sleep in a
barn because there was no room in the inn. The
baby was born in the barn. Were you born in a
barn? Where were you born?
14.
Luke 2:6-7--In the barn were lots of animals.
There were donkeys, sheep, and camels. Let's
thank God for all the animals.
15.
Luke 2:6-7--Mary had no crib for Jesus so she
wrapped him up warmly and laid him on a mattress
of hay in a manger. How did we care for you when
you were a baby?
16.
Luke 2:21--Joseph and Mary loved the baby very
much. They named him Jesus. What is your name?
What does it mean?
17.
Luke 2:6-7--Joseph stayed by Mary's side and
helped her with the new baby. Let's thank God or
Daddys and Mommys.
18.
Luke 2:8--That same night some shepherds were
outside taking care of their sheep. Do you know a
song about sheep?
19.
Luke 2:8-10--An angel told the shepherds "Do
not be afraid, I bring you good news." What
is your good news today?
20.
Luke 2:11-12--The angels told the shepherds that
Jesus had been born in Bethlehem and was wrapped
in cloths and lying in a manger. What kind of bed
did you sleep in when you were born?
21.
Matthew 2:2--God sent a star to guide the wise
men to find the baby born King of the Jews. Thank
God for the beautiful stars in the sky. Can you
think of a song about stars?
22.
Luke 2:13-14--The angels sang a song to God
because they were so glad baby Jesus had been
born. They sang, "Glory to God in the
highest..." Let's sing "God is so
Good."
23.
Luke 2:15--The shepherds were also very excited
that God's child had been born. They went to
Bethlehem to visit baby Jesus. Thank you God for
sending us Jesus.
24.
Luke 2:17--The shepherds told everyone they saw
that God's son had been born. Who can you tell
about Jesus?
25.
Matthew 2:9-11--People from far away brought
presents to Jesus. What birthday present would
you give Jesus?
-Advent-
Another great
way to build up to Christmas day is through the
celebration of Advent.
Advent means
"coming." and the advent wreath is a
wonderful way for older children and adults to
worship and prepare their hearts for Jesus'
birthday.
You will need an
advent wreath. You can buy one at a greeting card
store or Christian book store, or you can make
one by drilling 4 holes in a piece of wood (pine
has a wonderful smell) in the shape of a square,
and one hole in the center, 5 holes total. Glue
some greenery on in the shape of a wreath. Make
sure the holes are large enough or candles to
fit.
You will also
need 5 candles. Traditionally there are 3 purple
candles, one pink , and one white. You can use
any color you wish, but the center candle should
always be white.
Once you have
your wreath ready, put it in a conspicuous place.
We use ours as a centerpiece on the table. The
basic procedure is to light one candle on each of
the four Sundays before Christmas, and the white
one on Christmas eve. The symbolism of the
colored candles can represent anything about the
Christmas story that you wish, and the white
candle is for Christ. Here are a few ideas I have
heard:
- Prophets,
Bethlehem, Angels, and Shepherds
- Hope,
Peace, Love, and Joy
- Man's
depravity, God's holiness, Jesus'
sacrifice, Holy Spirit
- God's
Promise, Jesus' heritage, God's love for
us, Heavenly glory
The pink candle
may also stand for the season of Epiphany.
Epiphany means "appearance of God" and
is celebrated from Christmas day until Ash
Wednesday. The white candle is white because
Christ lived a pure and holy life.
-Gifts-
The giving of
gifts is a beautiful and tangible way to
demonstrate love. There are several ways you can
help your family become the hands and feet of
Christ during the holiday season that will help
everyone remember how much our Heavenly Father
loves us.
You can
volunteer to serve Christmas dinner at your local
Salvation Army. Meals on wheels does not deliver
on Christmas day, and there are a lot of people
who could use a hot meal on December 25th. You
can help with a canned food drive, go through
your attic and closets to see if there is
anything you could give to those in need, help
with a Toys for Tots program, or ask your local
Goodwill if you can help sort, clean, or
distribute items.
Another idea is
to take a shoe box and decorate it to look like
wood, fill another box with straw several weeks
before Christmas. Each time someone does
something kind or loving, they may take one piece
of straw and put it in the decorated box. By
Christmas, the box is full of everyone's
"presents" and Jesus has a place to
sleep. Use a baby doll wrapped in cloth for baby
Jesus.
One neat idea I
heard from my sister Kimberly is to write your
"gift to Jesus" on a piece of wrapping
paper. Fold it like a package and hang it on the
tree. On Christmas day open them and read what
everyone wrote. Examples might be "I will
try to be more kind." or " I will spend
more time with You."
Whatever
traditions you choose for your family, remember
the reason for the season, Jesus Christ, and keep
Him in the center!
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