“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manager. Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:11-14
Our tree is up, our lights are twinkling and the joy of Christmas is finally here! My daughter, Alyssa loves rearranging all the ornaments on our tree, making crafts and cookies for family and friends and I am experiencing the wonders of Christmas all over again through the eyes of my precious little girl!
Everyday, Alyssa and I find ourselves singing, “Happy Birthday to Jesus” in anticipation of Christmas morning. We often read books about the true meaning of Christmas and I am teaching her about giving to those who are less fortunate…but then it happened…she saw a guy in a bright red suit named santa claus. Her response was priceless; with a puzzled look on her face, Alyssa turned to me and said defensively, “Whose that mommy…..Christmas is Jesus’ Birthday!” I laughed out loud and thought to myself, “Wow Alyssa, you are right, who is this guy sneaking into our homes on Jesus’ Birthday anyway? Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with playing the “game” of Santa Claus, but our children need to understand that Santa is just a GAME and that Jesus is REAL!
We live in a world that wants to take Christ out of Christmas, but my prayer is that all of us will respond with a loud shout, “Not on our watch.” Let us all enjoy the festivities of this Holiday season, even play the game of santa claus, but not forget what Christmas is about – to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. After all how would you feel if someone else took all the attention away from your birthday?
How can we keep Christ the focus? I would love to hear all of your ideas. One way that we are able to focus on the birth of Jesus is every Christmas Eve, we make Jesus a birthday cake. I asked my daughter what Jesus’ favorite kind of cake is and she replied, “Chocolate!”
Prayer:
Lord, help us to always celebrate Your birth on Christmas morning! Forgive us for allowing the world to replace Your miraculous birth with business and gift buying. You are the greatest gift we could ever receive. As I enjoy the parties, games and joys of Christmas, help me to remember that You are the Reason for the Season! I will declare proudly everywhere I go, “Merry Christmas!” This is Your special day and we wish You a very Happy Birthday! Amen.”
Tip #1 on how to keep Christ in your Christmas:
Make Jesus a birthday cake on Christmas Eve. Alyssa and I are going to make Jesus’ Birthday cake together and she is going to decorate it with her favorite treat, M&M’s! Our plan is to wake up Christmas morning and sing “Happy Birthday to Jesus” and then eat a piece of cake for breakfast (now how much fun is that)? ? If you have ideas on how to keep Christ in Christmas, please click on the comment button and share them – I may even post your idea in the comings weeks!
Tracy, I really enjoyed your testimony at the Jingle Mingle. I was reading your keep Christ in Christmas peice, my grand daughter wants to give Jesus a present, when my daughter asked me how I thought she should do that, I explained that Jesus would love to use our hearts and hands to do something really nice for someone that has no one. They are taking socks to a nursing home to give to residents. They have decided to “gift” jesus every year.
What we are going to do is not only sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESUS, but also we will read the story of Jesus to our children on Christmas morning.
That could be something you can also do with Alyssa.
love,
stephanie
Another thing that I am planning on doing is researching how Santa came to be so that my children will understand also that Santa is not real and that Jesus is real. So, there will be no confusion.
love,
stephanie