Merry Christmas

After being in bed for a full day with the flu, fully knowing that I could be reading the Bible, praying, or even just reading a Christian book, I gave in to the TV. This TV has been a struggle for me, I have a slight..okay a LARGE inclination to watching trash. VH1, Bravo...I know that not all of the shows on those stations are trash, but I am drawn to them and time would be better spent doing something to improve my faith or myself. ANYWAY I ended up watching movies, just general movies on Lifetime and such, but after 2 movies I was SO tired of these Christmas commercials-you deserve this, buy your kids this, shop here and your kids will love you. Yes, we do gifts at Christmas time, my kids don't associate Santa with Christmas, they associate Jesus' Birthday with Christmas. I admit I struggle with overbuying gifts, but it has been on my heart this year to really make a point to not commercialize this CELEBRATION!

Here are some tips for keeping Christ in Christmas, especially with children

1. Talk about it. Tell your kids WHY we celebrate. Without Jesus' birth, he never could have died for our sins!

2. Hang a "Happy Birthday" banner. This is new to our home this year, but a favorite of my 3 yr old!

3. Hang The Christmas Nail. We've hung this several years in a row, well I've hung it. Somewhere along the way the paper with the reason behind it has been lost. This year my husband went to hang it on the tree, in the front with the rest of the ornaments..."No, no wait!" I cry. He looks at me puzzled. "It has to go in the back, no one is supposed to know its there" I say. "Wait I'll find it..." and off to Google the meaning behind it and read

"It is to be hung on a sturdy branch, a branch near the trunk,
a branch that will hold such a spike without being noticed
by well-wishers dropping by to admire one's tinseled tree.
The nail is known only to the home that hangs it.
Understood only by the heart that knows its significance.
It is hung with the thought -
The Christmas tree but foreshadows the Christ-tree
which only He could decorated for us, ornamented with nails as this."

I now look at every Christmas tree with a different eye and mind.

4. Christmas dinner, as explained to my 3 yr old, is Jesus' birthday party. Our family gets together just like for our birthdays for a party. So now we dont' invite to Christmas dinner, we invite to the birthday party!

5. The aforementioned 3 yr old asks, what kind of cake does Jesus want? So now we have birthday cake along with our traditional desserts.

6. While talking to a cousin of mine about gifts for the kids on Christmas, we begin to discuss how we do our own children's gifts. She says her kids get 3 gifts each, since the wisemen brought 3 gifts to Baby Jesus. Then Santa brings them each one gift. I LOVE it. We are adopting this tradition as well.

7. Read the Christmas story together. My husband's family has done this for years, prior to opening gifts together.

8. Take time to PRAY.

In a season that is filled with busy-ness, stop and remind yourself that the entire reason for Christians to celebrate Christmas is Christ! Stay Christ centered, enjoy your time with your family and try not to get all pulled up into the hype of the commercialized Christmas!

9. Last but not least, do not use Xmas in place of CHRISTmas. This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine! : )