REASON FOR THE SEASON....Day 5

Little ones LOVE CHRISTmas!!  They love the excitement.  They love waiting to see what their elf has done the night before.  They love SANTA.  They love candy and parties.  They love the decorations.

With all the busyness of the holidays, it can be difficult to get and keep their attention.  But it is important for parents and grandparents to start early to teach them the REASON FOR THE SEASON.

When our children were little, I bought an Advent book that had activities for children for each day of December.  Simple things that would engage them in activities but would teach them a part of the CHRISTmas story as well.

We also made cookie boxes to take to neighbors and friends.  I let them help me with the baking and with preparing the boxes.  Then we would go to deliver them together.  It was a small way of teaching them that CHRISTmas is not all about GETTING but more about GIVING.

We read the Luke 2 (King James Version.  In my opinion, the BEST version of the CHRISTmas story...just saying) Each time we read it, I'd leave words out and they would fill in the blanks.  And, although we read it many times during the holidays, my husband ALWAYS read it on CHRISTmas morning after breakfast.  This is a tradition that we still do every year.  It has been such a joy as he reads it and has let the older grands help him read it now.

We also started the tradition when ours were growing up of having a JESUS birthday cake.  This is a tradition that we carry on to this day.  It is always a chocolate cake to represent our lives before JESUS...sinful and dark.  It is covered with white icing to represent that Jesus washes all of our sins away and makes us white as snow.  It is decorated with green leaves to represent our new life and red candles for the blood of Jesus.  Since our family usually celebrates together early CHRISTmas morning and have a breakfast meal, cake is not really appropriate. So I create a tree out of cupcakes and then each person has one to take home and eat later.   But we still light the candles, sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS and blow out the candles.

The point is that we want to continually point our children to the fact that CHRISTmas is about JESUS.  HE is the REASON FOR THE SEASON.  All the other things are fun, but first and foremost it is about JESUS being born.

There are many books and items at Christian bookstores that can help you bring CHRIST into CHRISTmas.  Talk about the story as you are driving in the car.  As you  shop for gifts, talk about how JESUS is the very best gift ever!!  Be sure to involve them in giving whether through your church or another organization.

One thing I have loved doing since I've had grandchildren is taking them to shop for Operation Christmas Child boxes.  These shoeboxes are filled with small toys and items like soap, toothbrushes, socks, gloves, etc. and given to needy children around the world by Samaritan's Purse.  Each year we go shopping together and I let them help select the items to go in the boxes, then help wrap each box.  We talk about how blessed they are to have a home, plenty of food, clothes, toys etc. but that not everyone in the world has that.  I love how they always want to put more in the boxes than the boxes will hold!!

I hope that these few ideas will spark ideas in your head and help you begin to find ways that you can share the REASON FOR THE SEASON with your children and grandchildren. Help them to GAZE ON JESUS and only glance at the other trappings of the season.