I came across Jen Hatmaker's blog The Christmas Conundrum, about her conviction to cut back this Christmas. To do less. To worship more. As I read it, I thought, "Yes!" My favorite line from her article is: "Our family is going to celebrate Jesus this year in a manner worthy of a humble Savior who was born to two poor teenagers in a barn and yet still managed to rescue humanity." Yes! Doing less is good.
Then I read this article about why one parent, Lyz Lenz, chooses to go all out on Christmas gift-giving to her children: Why I'm Buying My Children A Lot of Presents and as I read, I thought, "Yes!" My favorite line from her article is: "I'm giving her gifts the way I want her to learn to give -- with generosity and without expectation of reciprocity. In sum, it's grace." Yes! Doing more is good.
I realized that I fully believed in two seemingly contradictory principles, and I wasn't going to let this bother me.
But then a friend of mine voiced her own confusion over the many convicting online articles that contradict one another. Who is right? What is right? What is the best way to celebrate Christmas in a way that honors the child in the manger? Is it better to do less? It is better to do more?
The answer is: Yes!
As with so many things, the Bible makes it clear that God cares far more about our heart than our actions (1 Samuel 16:7, Psalm 51:16-17, Matthew 22:36-40, Matthew 23:23-27, Titus 1:15...so many more...). So, the real question I need to ask myself as Christmas approaches is, "How is my heart?" I can ask God to help me search my heart (Psalm 139:23-24) to see if there is need for me to do more or do less this Christmas.
If my heart is filled with gratitude and love, and I feel that I have so much to give, the answer is probably: Do more.
If my heart is grieving and absent of joy, and I am considering forcing myself to put up Christmas lights out of guilt, the answer is probably: Do less.
If my heart is in aw of the innocence and joy of my children, and I want to encourage that, and grow more childlike in my own joy, the answer is probably: Do more.
If my heart is angry, snapping at my children because they are getting in my way as I try to perfect classroom goodie bags and sparkling teacher gifts, the answer is probably: Do less.
If my heart is thankful for my blessings, and I want to share what I have with others who have less, the answer is probably: Do more.
With God's help, I can judge whether cutting back or doing more this year will help grow my heart in the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. With God's help, I can know whether saying yes or no to a particular activity will grow my heart more for Him and for others (Matthew 22:36-40), or whether that particular activity will do more harm than good. And most likely, there are both things I need to do more of this year, and things I need to do less. Often it's down to the very minute:
God, would doing more or doing less in this moment most help me to worship you in a spirit of joy, peace, and love? Will doing more or doing less in this moment most help me to grow in love for You and for others?
Ask, lean in, listen, discern, and then do...more or less...as the Spirit leads.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Gingerbread Village
What's better than a gingerbread house? A gingerbread village!
Bed Bath and Beyond has gingerbread village kits ($10 before Christmas and $5 after).
Each kit has 5 small houses and all the icing and toppings, so the kids can each do their own house (or two, or three).
It has become an after-Christmas tradition for us.
Gingerbread Kits (Or, Cheap, Yummy Fun)
For the past few years, we have been buying ginger bread house kits during the after-season sales. Two years ago we found them at Kroger for $1 per house. Last year, we found a kit with a whole gingerbread village (5 small houses) at Bed Bath and Beyond for $5 per kit. I advise calling before heading out to get one, but I do hope somebody has them for cheap because my kids love making them (and I am cheap).
Cute kids. Yummy houses. That's about it.
Neighborhood Nativity Scavenger Hunt
The kids helped me complete these little notices for homes that had Nativity decorations on their lawns. It was Isaac's idea to sign it "From your mystery neighbors."
And as we walked or drove around, one of the kids would stop to tape it to the door if they saw a Nativity.
I told them they had to be sneaky like spies so Isaac started belly-crawling and rolling on the grass. This isn't a good picture, but it gives you an idea of his movement. Silly guy.
And...cocoa.
Neighborhood Tour of Lights
During December, we try to use as many evenings as we can to drive to a different area of the neighborhood and then get out and walk a few blocks to see the lights up close.
My preference is for cold weather so we can bundle up and justify a fire in the fireplace and mugs of hot cocoa when we return home.
But as you can see by the kids' clothing, it was quite warm when I brought the camera with us last week.
This week, it was cold enough to be bundled up. Yay!
Of course, there's always a little (lot) of goofiness going on.
So if you hear very loud children's voices passing in front of your home at night in December, it might be us.
And we try to end with a quick cocoa stop before bedtime.
Nativity Story Advent
This is our favorite countdown to Christmas! Every day, the kids get to add a new character to our nativity scene, while we read a bible verse that tells a bit of the Christmas story. Lately, we have had fun creating new nativities.
This is the one I made when Isaac was two years old. I just found clip art online for each character, printed it out, and had it laminated so we could reuse it every year.
I am having Isaac make his own advent this year with his massive Lego supply.
What he has made by December 8: That's Mary and Joseph with their angels talking to the inn keeper, who is saying, "no room!"
And Abby got way creative, trying to use toys we have around the house for the nativity characters. I'm not sure how I feel about Dopey playing the part of baby Jesus, but she sure had fun with the story, so I'm going to let that one slide.
I am also having the kids get crafty, trying to draw each character each day.
Today they each drew their own Mary.
Today they each drew their own Mary.
Isaac's Mary and Joseph
And his angels
Abby's scene (up to December 8th).
Whichever nativity you use, here are some bible verses to go with each character or piece. We start with #1 on December 1 and end with #25 on December 25.
- Mary. Say: This is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Read: Luke 1:26-27.
- Angel. Say: This is the angel Gabriel who visited Mary. Read: Luke 1:28-33.
- Joseph. Say: This is Joseph, the husband of Mary. Read: Matthew 1:18-19.
- Angel. Say: This is the angel who visited Joseph. Read: Matthew 1:20-21.
- Donkey. Say: This is the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem. Read: Luke 2:1-5.
- Stable. Say: This is the stable where Jesus was born. Read: Luke 2:6.
- Inn Keeper. Say: This is the inn keeper that had no room for Mary and Joseph to sleep. Read: Luke 2:7.
- Animal. Say: This is an animal that lived in the stable where Jesus was born. Read: Luke 2:12.
- Animal. Say: This is an animal that lived in the stable where Jesus was born. Read: Luke 1:46-48.
- Animal. Say: This is an animal that lived in the stable where Jesus was born. Read: Philippians 2:5-7.
- Shepherd. Say: This is a shepherd, who took care of sheep near Bethlehem. Read: Luke 2:8.
- Shepherd. Say: This is another one of the shepherds that the angel told about Jesus. Read: Luke 2:9.
- Angel. Say: This is the angel who told the shepherds about Jesus. Read: Luke 2:10-12.
- Many Angels. Say: These are many angels who praised God when Jesus was born. Read: Luke 2:13-14.
- Sheep. Say: These are the sheep that the shepherds watched. Read: Luke 2:15.
- Manger. Say: This is the manger where the shepherds found baby Jesus. Read: Luke 2:16.
- Wise man. Say: This is a wise man who went to find Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:1-2.
- Wise man. Say: This is another wise man who went to find Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:3-6.
- Wise man. Say: This is another wise man who went to find Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:7-8.
- Camel. Say: This is a camel that carried the wise man to find baby Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:9.
- Star. Say: This is the star that guided the wise men to find baby Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:10.
- Gold. Say: This is the gold that the wise men brought as a present to baby Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:11.
- Frankincense. Say: This is the frankincense that the wise men brought as a present to baby Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:12.
- Myrrh. Say: This is the myrrh that the wise men brought as a present to baby Jesus. Read: Matthew 2:13-15.
- Baby Jesus. Say: This is the baby Jesus, born so that God could be with us forever! Read: Matthew 1:22-23.
Teaching the True Meaning of Christmas
My mommy group recently had an awesome discussion on the message board about how to teach kids the real meaning of Christmas. I liked the ideas so much, I'm copying them here so I can use them now and in the future!
1. We give a gift to Jesus on Christmas Eve- a special tithe to church. Even the kids can get some money from their piggy bank to contribute.
2. We bought the "What God Wants for Christmas" set at Lifeway, it is a cute way to teach kids the true meaning of Christmas through a nativity set.
3. I know this sounds corny, but we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Day. I think you can even buy plates, napkins that say happy birthday Jesus online.
4. On Christmas Eve we read the Christmas Story from the Bible (It's in Matthew)
5. We try to teach our kids the importance of giving rather than just receiving so we usually do some type of toy donation. This year we are doing Operation Christmas Child and are adopting a family. She goes with us to pick the presents, helps wrap them and then we deliver them.
6. We do clothes/toy cleanouts pretty often and give to kids who many not be as fortunate.
7. We participate in the "toys for tots" program. The kids come and are part of the process, from selecting a toy to wrapping and delivering it.
8. One disipline I impose for myself is, I only get the kids 3 gifts to represent the three gifts the wisemen gave to Jesus.
9. The Christmas train in Alvin was a neat train ride of the Christmas story (if you're local to League City, TX).
10. Before we set up ANY decorations at all we find our manager scene and read the Christmas story and put the manager scene up and then say a prayer together as a family.
11. Because my husband grew up very poor and spent many holidays without presents, food, we use this time as a way to remind ourselves how blessed we are and we adopt a family (you can call Lighthouse Christian Ministries for a list of needs if you're local to League City, TX). What is great about Lighthouse is that your drop the toys off to the parent or at the door so the kids think that the parent was able to buy for them and they don't know it was charity.
12. Our annual organization is World Vision where you can donate by giving animals for villages, donating money for sexually exploited children, and even help American children in poverty. You donate $25 and it helps the American children with necessities worth $325.
13. When the kids are older I am planning on having them come with me to serve in a food kitchen for the homeless.
14. Last year we asked our friends and family to help us pack the food pantry at our church instead of bringing presents to our daughter's birthday party. It turned out so great! We loaded up her wagon and she pulled it into the church. She helped her daddy put cans, diapers, and all sorts of stuff on the shelves. The whole time she kept talking about how she was helping "the babies".
15. We mostly have been doing books according to the season. One of my favorites is "Who is Coming to Our House" http://www.amazon.com...
16. We Use a nativity scene as an advent calendar. You can tell a different part of the Christmas story each day as you get closer to Christmas. I made my own so that there were enough things to add to the scene for each of the 25 days (manger, wise men, sheep, shepherds, Mary...of course baby Jesus on Christmas day), but you can also purchase some that have it planned out for you online.
17. We help the kids pick out or make a gift for each member of our family. The idea is that they will learn the joy of giving and not just getting. You can give them $1 for each family member at the dollar store or help them make something...and wrap it themselves.
18. We will choose an angel on the christmas tree at the mall and have him wrap the requested gift and drop it off.
Don't ya love how the kids put all the ornaments on the same three branches? I think when they're grown up, I'll do that myself just to remind me of this time.
New Uses for Old Christmas Cards
For Christmas this year, I wanted the kids to make or pick out a gift for each family member. I also wanted to reuse last year's Christmas cards because it seems like such a waste to toss out the ones we received. So, I did some on-line research and found some fun ideas that I will use with the kids this year. Below are my favorites from a website that listed 10 crafts for old Christmas cards.
CHRISTMAS PLACE MATS. Cut out pictures from your favorite Christmas cards from past years. Make a collage with the pictures or arrange the card fronts in rows. Glue the cards/pictures onto a sheet of paper. When finished, have the place mats laminated (or use clear contact paper) and you’re set! Don’t forget to write pertinent information on the back before you laminate, such as the year and names and ages of the kids who made them. These make great gifts. (We made these for our family for Christmas breakfast!)
PHOTO FRAMES. Make simple photo frames to hang on the tree or place around the house. Measure the photo you want to frame, then cut out an oval, rectangle or other shape from the front of the card to go over the photo. Tape the photo to the inside of the card front. Open the card slightly to stand it up. Or, glue the card closed and punch a hole near the top, thread with ribbon and hang it on the tree.
3 Types of CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENTS.
- Select a picture you can cut out, such as a reindeer, angel or Santa. Glue the card closed and let dry. Cut out the picture, punch a hole near the top and thread with ribbon. Or, cut the card into an interesting shape around the picture, such as a diamond or teardrop or star.
- Cut out pictures from the cards. Glue them onto ornament shapes cut from construction paper, lace paper doilies, felt, painted cardboard, craft foam, etc. Punch a hole near the top and thread with ribbon or yarn.
- Ignoring the picture on the front of the card, cut a spiral, starting large and spiraling inward to the center of the card front. When finished, pull the spiral slightly so that it will hang three-dimensionally like a Christmas tree. Use a pin to poke a hole in the top center of the spiral and loop some thread to it for hanging.
We're planning to adapt the picture frame / ornament idea by cutting out a frame from cardboard. After we cut out the pictures we wanted for the place mats, the kids tore the rest of the cards into small scraps of paper.
Our Christmas card scraps, ready to go:
Of course, our Christmas ornament frames will be much smaller and probably shaped like Christmas trees.
NEW YEAR's TRADITION for Christmas Cards:
Another tradition I heard about in recent years and really, really want to start in our family this year comes from the book Let's Make a Memory by Shirley Dobson and Gloria Gaither. It's 15 years old, but it's a great book ideas to make wonderful new holiday and every day traditions. In the book, Shirley Dobson describes how she and her husband, Dr. James Dobson (of Focus on the Family ministries) save the Christmas cards and letters they receive and reread one or two each night at dinner time starting New Year's Day. This allows them more time to really let the message of each card or letter soak in. After they read each card or letter, they pray together for the family or individual who sent it to them. I think this is an awesome way to start the new year and honor the effort each person takes to bless us with a card or letter.
Gift Craft
I decided to have the kids help make some little gifts for our neighbors and friends this year.
We found this one in one of the kids' magazines. First they sorted some Fruit Loops by color into baggies.
Once separated, they crushed the cereal into a powder, or close to it at least.
They might have had a little fun smashing them to bits...
...just a little!
Then they filled cleaned-out baby food jars with layers of the powdered cereal.
The only thing I would do differently is to have the kids make thicker layers of each color so the rainbow layers are more pronounced.
And if you decide you are crazy enough to try this project, make sure to have your vacuum hose handy, as I found it the fastest way to clean up the crumbly mess.
Then I finished it off with a label that says: "This happy little jar of sweet toppings is perfect for your yogurt, ice cream, or oatmeal. Whichever way you choose to eat it, gobble it up quickly! Hope you enjoy and have a blessed Christmas."
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