A blogger friend asked if I'd like to participant in a Christmas 'chain' blog. Today, I post mine. Tomorrow, I'll be back to add some links at the end of this blog to others who have written on the topic of Christmas. Without further ado, I'd like to share my thoughts on Christmas.
We have a family tradition of opening one present Christmas Eve night. It began as a compromise because my grandparents liked to open all their presents Christmas Eve, and my parents wanted to wait until Christmas morning. Of course, my sisters and I had no complaints about opening one present a day early!
After a few years, I learned picking the biggest, best present to open a day early stole much of the joy from Christmas Day. Leftover, smaller presents for the 25th wasn't nearly as fun. So, I started looking for the little gifts on the 24th. Something I thought might be fun but wasn't the gift I most longed to open. That made Christmas Eve just as much fun as Christmas Day as we dug through all the presents looking for the perfect choice.
I've kept this tradition for my children. My five-year-old will most likely not understand the concept of saving the best gift for a few more hours. However, my 12-year-old has for the last several years. I don't dictate what gift they can open, but my oldest soon realized opening his best present early stole so much joy from Christmas Day. He now looks for the smaller gifts.
As I contemplated the reason for our choice, something else sprang to mind.
What am I doing to protect the wonder of the greatest Gift ever given?
We hear the Christmas story several times during this season of celebration. It is special, but if we're not careful, it will get lost in a sea of other stories. Filed away in our children's minds alongside Santa. Or lost in our own minds as that story we've heard a thousand times.
How do we keep the wonder of Jesus alive? To set Him apart?
We ought to be zealously guarding the preciousness of Jesus's birth, but He can't be boxed away. One cannot appreciate what they do not see and know. We must put Him on full display and look for ways to keep the wonder of Him alive.
What are you doing this season to keep the wonder of Christmas alive?
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Would you like to read more? Click any of the links below to be taken to other blogs on Christmas.
Tis the Christmas episode season by Nola Passmore
Unto us a child is born by Steph Penny
What does Christmas represent for me by Virginia Wright (might be experiencing some technical issues)
God’s presence in the ordinary by Susan Barnes
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Image #1 from wix media Image #2 by https://pixabay.com/users/jeffjacobs1990-7438739
I like to keep the wonder of Christmas alive by applying a story I heard in a sermon some years ago. The speaker's wife has a birthday in January and he commented that the family wouldn't be sitting around looking at her baby photos. Instead they would be celebrating the relationship they had with her today. He went on to encourage us to celebrate the relationship we have with Jesus today.
I love this! I keep the wonder of Jesus alive in a few ways: serving in my church worship team on Christmas Eve/Day, listening to Christmas worship music, and trying to write down the wonders of what Jesus has done. Music inspires me, and trying to express the beauty of Jesus’ birth through words or song shows me how quickly I run out of things to say! Jesus is just extraordinary!
Thank you so much for sharing this! :)
Absolutely loved it! Really enjoyed learning about your special family traditions, (my family always celebrates on Christmas Eve, so we get to open all the presents then ;) )
The message reminder was just what I needed to help me get into the Christmas Spirit! Looking forward for more posts in the future. ;) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Hi Dienece - Thanks for posing that question. It's actually something I've been thinking of. We had a sermon at church recently about the wonder of Christmas, and it occurred to me that I can sometimes be blasè about it. Last year I was really busy up until Christmas, and it's easy in those times to be a bit of a Scrooge and let stress take over. So I'm doing things a bit differently this year.
I'm taking some designated time off over the next couple of weeks so that I can be involved in a few more Christmassty things. I know not everyone can do that, but I work at home so I can choose when to finish up…