As we see Santa practically on every corner, how can we teach our children about our Savior being born in a manger? As that popular radio station plays their "month long of Christmas songs", how can we teach our children the Christmas carols of our faith: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman," "Angels From the Realm of Glory," and the many others which proclaim the coming of Christ? As every commercial on tv is flashing with what we and our children "need", catering to our selfish desires, how can we teach them (and remind ourselves) it is better to give than to receive?
These are all questions Hubby and I asked ourselves 6 Christmases ago as we cradled our newborn, our first-born, and celebrated our first Christmas as a family. Over the last 6 years we have discovered some tools which have helped us keep the month of December focused only on Christ. This is not an all-inclusive list, by any means, but I thought it might be helpful for those of you looking for practical resources for a young family. It is my prayer that they prove helpful to your families too.
Advent Calendar:
Every December 1st we begin our 25 days of celebrating Christ's first advent. Advent means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. (I say we celebrate his first advent, because the Bible is clear that Christ is returning - his second advent - and for this day, we are still waiting!) Our advent calendar helps us count down the days to December 25th by providing us a small part of the Christmas story each day. In the picture below, you will see that there are 25 small books numbered 1-25 in this calendar. We read one of the books every night before the girls go to bed. As we finish the books, we hang them on our tree.
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| This is the advent calendar we use. |
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| The little books pop-out for each day of the month. |
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| Hubby reading to the girls |
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| Me reading to the girls. |
The Advent Calendar has been a GREAT way to be reminded of the Christmas story each day of the month. For our girls, this is one of their favorite parts of the month of December! There are many different ways to celebrate Advent (Jesse Tree, taking time to celebrate the 4 Sundays before Christmas, etc), but this is the one that has worked well for our family, especially with the age of our children!
Purposeful Christmas Music:
Another tradition we have held to in our house, is to listen to purposeful Christmas music. With the radio station playing songs about a rogue snowman running all over town, a misfit reindeer with a red nose, a recluse named Mr. Grinch, and a guy who got his heart broken last Christmas and has yet to recover, you are hard-pressed to find many songs that center around Christ's birth. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not a complete Scrooge...I appreciate a little "Jingle Bell Rock" in my life as much as the next gal. What I DO NOT like is my children singing about Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa more than they are singing about Jesus Christ: the Word becoming flesh, born in a manger, taking on the form of a servant, and ultimately giving up his life that we might gain life. For this reason, Hubby and I make a valiant effort to limit secular "Christmas songs" and focus on songs that proclaim the excellencies of Christ! The below albums are our 3 favorites.
Saint Nicholas Day:
An awesome way to get your children's focus off of receiving and onto giving, is to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day. Saint Nicholas was a pastor in an ancient country called Lycia. He was known for his kindness, love, and generosity toward his community. He is, obviously, the man behind the legend of Santa Claus. The way we begin our Saint Nicholas Day celebration is by reading the book, "Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend."
The book also comes with a note to parents with a little more detail on the story of Nicholas and a brief explanation of how to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day. It also has a glossary in the back of the book which helps define difficult words.
Anyway, back to our tradition...we read this book on the night of December 5th (the eve of Saint Nicholas Day) as a family. In the book, it tells the story of 3 poor sisters who had no money for their dowry. Without a dowry they would be unable to marry and this would mean they would most likely be sold into slavery. When Pastor Nicholas learned of their need, he went at night and dropped 3 bags filled with gold coins into their window. The legend of Saint Nick is that these bags landed in the sisters' shoes or stockings, which they had laid out to dry by the fire. In keeping with this tradition, our girls leave their shoes out in front of their door (or you can do it by the fireplace) on December 5th. That night, Mommy and Daddy come and leave money in their shoes. When they discover this money in the morning, they are to use it for gifts for others.
Santa Claus:
Well, you may have guessed it by now...but just to confirm your suspicions...no, we don't celebrate Santa. I know, I know...this is a widely unpopular choice. However, after prayerfully considering it, Hubby and I decided to ditch the hype about the man in the red suit in order to focus more on the babe in the manger. We still get our girls gifts to open on Christmas morning, but they know these gifts come from Daddy and Mommy. Yes, they also know that Santa Claus is not real. No, they have not "spilled the beans" to any friends or family members who choose to celebrate Santa Claus. For us, the choice was clear...we want Jesus to be the star of Christmas, not Santa.
Reading Luke 2:
Every Christmas morning before the present opening begins, before we start driving all over the place to different family members homes, before we start gorging ourselves on delicious treats...before everything...we gather together, the 4 of us, and my husband reads the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2. This is a tradition that my Dad started when I was little, and it is a tradition Hubby and I carry on to this day. I know this passage by heart now, after hearing it for so many Christmases past. What a joy it is to still hear my Dad's voice echoing in my head, as my husband now reads it to our girls. It's my favorite part of Christmas.
I love hearing Luke's account of that night...it overwhelms me...the love of Jesus Christ to come to Earth to save us. The love of God the Father, sending his Son to live the life I can't live and to die the death I deserve to die. The story of Christ's birth overwhelms me because I can't separate his birth from his death. I heard it said once that we must see the cross from the manger. I love that because it is so true. We must see the unsurpassed love of God in sending his son to be born in a humble stall and to suffer and then die the worst death imaginable...for us. He did this in order that we might gain his righteousness, in order that the perfect life of Christ could be credited to us. He did this so that the death of Christ would cover our sins before a righteous and holy God. He did this that we might turn from our sin and place our trust in himself, that is Christ, and the complete sufficiency of his life and death. No, I can not separate the manger from the cross, and it is my prayer that you, dear reader, are unable to as well.
I hope these tools prove helpful to keep your family focused on Christ this Christmas! I know they all have been great resources for our family. So from my family to yours, we wish you a very merry CHRISTmas!
Purposeful Christmas Music:
Another tradition we have held to in our house, is to listen to purposeful Christmas music. With the radio station playing songs about a rogue snowman running all over town, a misfit reindeer with a red nose, a recluse named Mr. Grinch, and a guy who got his heart broken last Christmas and has yet to recover, you are hard-pressed to find many songs that center around Christ's birth. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not a complete Scrooge...I appreciate a little "Jingle Bell Rock" in my life as much as the next gal. What I DO NOT like is my children singing about Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa more than they are singing about Jesus Christ: the Word becoming flesh, born in a manger, taking on the form of a servant, and ultimately giving up his life that we might gain life. For this reason, Hubby and I make a valiant effort to limit secular "Christmas songs" and focus on songs that proclaim the excellencies of Christ! The below albums are our 3 favorites.
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| Check out what they do with God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman - Track 8. It's pretty epic! |
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| Track 6: Christmas Time - is a household favorite around here! |
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| Track 5: My Soul Magnifies the Lord - is my personal favorite from this album! |
An awesome way to get your children's focus off of receiving and onto giving, is to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day. Saint Nicholas was a pastor in an ancient country called Lycia. He was known for his kindness, love, and generosity toward his community. He is, obviously, the man behind the legend of Santa Claus. The way we begin our Saint Nicholas Day celebration is by reading the book, "Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend."
This book tells the story of Pastor Nicholas and how the stories of his generosity spread across the world. The reason Hubby and I like it so much is because it focuses on WHY Pastor Nicholas was so generous. Here is a quote from the book...
"...to this day, people continue to give gifts at Christmas, like Nicholas did, as a way to share God's love and show kindness to others...And like Nicholas, we are filled with Jesus' love so we want to share that love with others."
Anyway, back to our tradition...we read this book on the night of December 5th (the eve of Saint Nicholas Day) as a family. In the book, it tells the story of 3 poor sisters who had no money for their dowry. Without a dowry they would be unable to marry and this would mean they would most likely be sold into slavery. When Pastor Nicholas learned of their need, he went at night and dropped 3 bags filled with gold coins into their window. The legend of Saint Nick is that these bags landed in the sisters' shoes or stockings, which they had laid out to dry by the fire. In keeping with this tradition, our girls leave their shoes out in front of their door (or you can do it by the fireplace) on December 5th. That night, Mommy and Daddy come and leave money in their shoes. When they discover this money in the morning, they are to use it for gifts for others.
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| Hubby putting money in the girls' shoes on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day. Love Bug is using her money to buy some gifts for a Joy Jar, and ZuZu wants to use her money to buy gifts for her grandparents. |
Santa Claus:
Well, you may have guessed it by now...but just to confirm your suspicions...no, we don't celebrate Santa. I know, I know...this is a widely unpopular choice. However, after prayerfully considering it, Hubby and I decided to ditch the hype about the man in the red suit in order to focus more on the babe in the manger. We still get our girls gifts to open on Christmas morning, but they know these gifts come from Daddy and Mommy. Yes, they also know that Santa Claus is not real. No, they have not "spilled the beans" to any friends or family members who choose to celebrate Santa Claus. For us, the choice was clear...we want Jesus to be the star of Christmas, not Santa.
Reading Luke 2:
Every Christmas morning before the present opening begins, before we start driving all over the place to different family members homes, before we start gorging ourselves on delicious treats...before everything...we gather together, the 4 of us, and my husband reads the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2. This is a tradition that my Dad started when I was little, and it is a tradition Hubby and I carry on to this day. I know this passage by heart now, after hearing it for so many Christmases past. What a joy it is to still hear my Dad's voice echoing in my head, as my husband now reads it to our girls. It's my favorite part of Christmas.
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| Christmas day 2011. Hubby reading from Luke 2. |
I love hearing Luke's account of that night...it overwhelms me...the love of Jesus Christ to come to Earth to save us. The love of God the Father, sending his Son to live the life I can't live and to die the death I deserve to die. The story of Christ's birth overwhelms me because I can't separate his birth from his death. I heard it said once that we must see the cross from the manger. I love that because it is so true. We must see the unsurpassed love of God in sending his son to be born in a humble stall and to suffer and then die the worst death imaginable...for us. He did this in order that we might gain his righteousness, in order that the perfect life of Christ could be credited to us. He did this so that the death of Christ would cover our sins before a righteous and holy God. He did this that we might turn from our sin and place our trust in himself, that is Christ, and the complete sufficiency of his life and death. No, I can not separate the manger from the cross, and it is my prayer that you, dear reader, are unable to as well.
I hope these tools prove helpful to keep your family focused on Christ this Christmas! I know they all have been great resources for our family. So from my family to yours, we wish you a very merry CHRISTmas!
