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Christmas has to be, without a doubt, my favorite time of year and I’m instilling that love in my children.  For all of the stress, the shopping, the traveling, the crowds, the cooking, and preparation, I love Christmas.  I love the smells, the music, the snow, the children’s anticipation, the gifts, the lights… I love it all.  But, if I’m not careful, in all of the tinsel and lights, programs and purchases, I will lose my First Love of Christmas and so will my children. 

So, I’ve declared this Christmas the “Christmas of my First Love” where I will help my family shift our focus from the mall to the manger.  The manger is quieter and less crowded. It’s a place where children are always welcome. Spending time here will help our family to keep our eyes and hearts fully focused on Jesus.  I invite you to join with us! The truth is, unlike “Know-it-all”, I don’t really want it all because I have my first love, Jesus and my family… and that’s everything I’ve ever really wanted. 

Making the move from mall to manger this Christmas isn’t that difficult!  Here are some ideas...

Enjoy the simple things at home.  Things like homemade gifts, refrigerator art, Christmas caroling, and evenings with family by the fire watching It’s a Wonderful Life and other Christmas classics. Load your family in the car and drive around enjoying the Christmas lights.

Read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Whether you open your gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, try having someone from your family read the Christmas story out loud before opening gifts. For several years, our children acted out the Christmas story.

Celebrate Jesus’ birth with a party.  Last year our family started Christmas Eve dinner with a birthday party for Jesus complete with cupcakes, candles, and music.  And yes, we ate the cupcakes first! Make sure you sing Happy Birthday to Jesus to cap off the celebration.

Letters to Jesus. Before opening your Christmas presents, write thank-you letters to Jesus. Collect them and make them available every Christmas. Keep adding new letters annually. Here’s one rule to make this tradition work well: family members can only read the thank-you letters they have written.

Kick the credit habit. Frankly, I don’t think Jesus is impressed with our willingness to pay for Christmas gifts until next Christmas season – when of course, the next round of loading up on our consumer debt comes along!  Buying Christmas gifts on credit – when we can’t afford to pay those credit card bills off right away – does more harm to our families than good.

Attend the Christmas church services, especially Christmas Eve.  Advent is a wonderful time of year – as the church community comes together for special observations to recognize Jesus’ birth.  Even if you’ve been away from the church for a while, Christmas is a great time to start attending again.

Think of others first.  Our family sponsors two children through Compassion International.  This has been a tremendous blessing and this year we plan to adopt a family from Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree project.  For more information on sponsoring a child through Compassion, visit www.compassion.com. For information about Angel Tree, visit www.pfm.org.

Secret Santa: Secret Santa is another wonderful way to teach your family about serving others.  As a family, select one person you know who is lonely, needy or just needs some extra encouragement. Purchase or create a special gift for this person. Then on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning, get the family up out of bed, bundle up, grab some cookies and hot cocoa, pile into the family car and drive the gift over to the person’s home. Sneak the gift onto the front porch and include an attached card that reads, “From your Secret Santa.”

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