Welcome to a Christ-Centered Christmas!!
As we all know, it’s getting increasingly more difficult to enjoy and celebrate a truly Christ-Centered Christmas with each passing year. Commercialism, Materialism, and Consumerism reign supreme and if you’re like me, it is easy to get blinded by the bling.
That is why some friends and I have decided to host this link up. We wanted to share simple and fun ways that we keep Christ the center of our Christmas celebrations and encourage you as you seek to celebrate a Christ-Centered Christmas!
You will find my post on Keeping Gift Giving Simple below, as well as links to the five other hostesses.
You won’t want to miss out on what they have to say!
So be sure to stop by:
- The French Bird
- The Encouraging Home, and
- This Gal’s Journey to check out the great ideas, tips and resources!
Image by Shouftas |
For my part of this hop, I’m writing about how our family keeps gift-giving simple with our two girls.
Before Little Girl’s first Christmas in 2008, my husband and I started talking about and praying through how we would approach gift-giving with our children. Would we lavish them with any and every new toy? Would we do Santa Clause? How would we give to our children without them getting spoiled? How would we, as a family, keep Christ as the CENTER of Christmas?
Some friends of ours a few steps ahead of us in life gave us a suggestion: Just give your children 3 gifts–as the wise men gave Jesus 3 gifts when they visited Him.
Now, some of you may be thinking: “Just 3?! That’s it?!”
Image by sh0dan |
Really, if you could come sit down on the couch with me (after, ahem, pushing aside the mound of clean clothes I’m now eyeing on my right), you could look to your left and spy our girls’ play area.
Let me just say: These girls have.plenty.of.toys. They are in no way deprived! (I think it may be the other way around!)
Beyond just limiting the gifts, we decided to be intentional about the type of gifts. Each of our children will get a:
- want,
- need, and a
- spiritual gift.
The want usually ends up being a pretty big gift. Two years ago, we gave Little Girl a toy kitchen with lots of little gadgets and play food to go inside.
The need could be anything from a new sweater to a potty training chair to a new pair of shoes.
The spiritual is where the most creativity comes into play. It could be a play nativity set, a new Bible or, like my husband gave our girls last year, a journal where he records prayers and “love” letters to them.
A toy nativity set is a great “spiritual” gift for our children. |
Our childrens’ grandparents and other family members still give to them as they wish, although we are encouraging them to not feel obligated to give much–or to put the money they would have spent in a savings account.
Since we started this tradition with our girls right off the bat, they will always see Christmas as a time when they receive 3 gifts–just as Jesus received 3 gifts.
It will open up opportunities to talk more about God’s greatest gift of all–and the true reason for the Season–salvation through Jesus Christ.
And Santa Clause? We don’t pretend any gifts come from him. Both of us grew up with Santa, and, no, we do NOT think Santa and Satan are synonymous, but we prayed through things and felt that it was best for our family to keep the gift-giving simple.
Right now, Little Girl thinks Santa is as real as a Disney princess. She knows he says “Ho Ho” and comes out around Christmas. (We don’t live in a bubble.) And my dad even dresses up like him and we put the girls on his knee. But there is no anticipation of what Santa brought on Christmas morning.
When she gets a little older (maybe this year?), we will explain to her that other families do play Santa and children do think he is real, so we need to play along and keep the secret. We think there is nothing wrong with that.
How do you do gift-giving at your house?
Make sure to visit the other bloggers participating in this series:
- Sharing Love by Sharing Goodies @This Gal’s Journey
- Resources for Teaching Your Children about the True Meaning of Christmas @The Encouraging Home
- A Christ-Centered Christmas @The French Bird
We know we are far from having all the answers, so we want to hear from you! Be sure to link up any posts you have about how you celebrate A Christ-Centered Christmas! If you link up, be sure to grab the button to display on your blog! Thanks so much for joining us, and we hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!
Catherine Lee
I did love knowing about Santa when I was a kid. Can’t remember how I felt when I learned he was fake! Thanks for this blog, though, this is great as we’re always looking for ways to handle the holidays. My son is especially popular and likes to hold parties in our home for his classmates (he’s only 8!) so we like to send the kids with a goodbag and I got into referring Kids Music Box CD (www.kidsmusicboxcd.com to everyone because a friend of mine owns it as a hobby and he’s giving away his CDs now for half the price. I hope this can be of use for you as a gift idea or for any mothers looking for something creative and new. I’m Christian myself so I enjoy the biblical tunes that you can find here as well. Try the sample- they are cute 🙂
Vasilisa Hamilton
“You Are A Gift,” Sheriff Tells Gathering
By Vasilisa Hamilton
Twitter: @VasilisaH
Web: Papadidntpreach.com
As Christmas approaches, gifts are at the forefront of many people’s minds.
“You Are A Gift” is the message Gregory Jenkins, Jasper County’s chief law-enforcement officer, delivers to youthful audiences on any given Sunday as part of his community-building initiatives.
“You are a gift to someone, whether you know it or not,” said Jenkins, who is an ordained minister.
During his address, Jenkins called the children forward, beginning with the young men.
“Look at the older men in this audience,” Jenkins said. “They look you in the eyes. They smile and shake your hand. They are wearing a belt; no one has to tell them to pull their pants up.”
Then, the young women came forward.
“I don’t even want you to sing, ‘This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.’ God created you, so your light isn’t little. It’s big and bright. God loves you, and I love you. Love yourself,” Jenkins urged. “You are beautiful. Don’t let any man tell you different.”
As the married father of an 11-year-old girl, Jenkins told parents and grandparents to take special interest in what their children are looking at and listening to.
“Don’t act like you never listened to rap music or don’t know what it is,” Jenkins said. “If you don’t know what’s influencing them, how can you talk to them in a credible way,”
Jenkins asked.
Christians shouldn’t be so heavenly bound that they are of no earthly good, Jenkins said.
“Share laughter with them,” the former Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer said, launching into a Bernie Mack impersonation.
Jenkins said he loves gospel music and James Brown music, but he listens to Bach and Beethoven as well.
“Let your children see that you are a ‘real’ person they can actually talk to about more than just church. Let’s be real,” Jenkins emphasized, encouraging parents to speak positivity into their children’s lives.
“God has great plans for you,” he added.
Christmas Gift
Hello from South Dakota The presents in this story are
super nice, and I can see a lot of brain storming was
used. It was great and think I found a winner. My boy is hard to buy for cause
his preferences is a little bit particular, but there are a couple of prodcuts
here that that will look awesome in his man cave. So well done.
This story was highly convenient as my boy has everything.
BTW it would definitely be awesome if a 2014 march edition of this list
could be drafted. It would be swell. so kudos
Joyelle Wills
I would like to know how to receive in invitation to join the http://throughmylensetlh.blogspot.com/ blog. Thank you!
Be Blessed!
Joyelle Wills
https://maishakr.com/
I would like to know how to receive in invitation to join the http://throughmylensetlh.blogspot.com/ blog. Thank you!