A Christmas Surprise

MaryElise had a creative idea this year. She wrapped all of our Christmas movies in wrapping paper. Then when we want to watch a movie in December we unwrap a gift and watch whichever movie is inside. It's been a fun "new tradition" this year. What do you enjoy each Christmas season?

Advent Calendar

This Christmas we are using an Advent Calendar to prepare our hearts for Christmas. 

I got the idea from another blog and loved it!  Each drawer contains not a treat, but an object that represents the Christmas story and a verse that goes along with it.  Our children had so much fun running around the house collecting various objects to place inside.  (If we didn't have it, they drew pictures of what we needed!)  On our other blog I am detailing (almost daily) what is inside each drawer and the verse that goes along with it.  You can see it at A Snap Shot of Motherhood.  What are you doing this year to prepare your hearts for God's Greatest Gift?

*If you want step by step instructions of how to put this all together check out the first link above.  Merry Christmas! 

Good Friday

In honor of Good Friday, the children made a Garden Tomb. I got the idea from the blog A Holy Experience. The children planted some herbs in a flower pot we had on the deck and put a large stone in the garden to represent the garden tomb. Another rock was placed in front of the large stone to represent the stone that was rolled in place to seal Jesus' tomb. A candle is in our garden because Jesus is the Light of the World. On Easter the stone will be rolled away and we will celebrate the good news that the tomb is empty!

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said,
'Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here; he has risen!"
Luke 24:1-6

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas traditions and ones to teach my children more about Christ. Over the next several days you can see some of our traditions at A Snap Shot of Motherhood. Merry Christmas!

The First Gift Under Our Tree

What can we give to Jesus?



A few years ago we began a new Christmas tradition. Before anything else went under our tree, the first gift that was placed there was for Jesus.

We talk as a family about God's greatest gift for us...His Son Jesus. God gave us Jesus and that is why we celebrate Christmas. He is God's gift to us...but what can we give Him in return?

Each year every person gets a piece of paper to record what they would like to give to Jesus for Christmas. Looking back over the slips of paper it is fun to see the responses of our children and how their ideas of what to give Jesus have changed over the years.



When they were really little they would say things like:

• candy


• I will give Jesus a boat, and an airplane and candy.
  

As they have gotten older their responses have grown with them:

• my heart



• love



• worship



• thankfulness
  

Perhaps out of all these ideas, the greatest thing we can do in response to God's greatest gift is to receive it ourselves. God gave us the gift of Jesus, to save us from our sins so we could live forever with Him. It isn't enough that He gave the gift...we have to receive it, to take it, open it, and claim it for ourselves. If it stays unopened under the tree, our destiny will not be with the One who created us and loves us.

In John 3:16 it says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

This Christmas it is our prayer for you that you will open the gift of Jesus and receive the gift of eternal life that God has for you!

Seeking Jesus...By Mistake

I sent this letter out last Christmas and got such an encouraging response I decided to post it on my blog...

Several years ago, when Courtney and Isaiah were both under five years old, our church hosted a Christmas craft night. One craft our family made together was a wooden nativity set. The pieces were made out of blocks of wood, painted, and then covered with fabric to represent Mary & Joseph, the Shepherd, the Wise men, and Baby Jesus. The set was perfect for little hands to recreate the Christmas blessing. The only problem...the pieces kept getting misplaced.

"WHOEVER FINDS BABY JESUS GETS A PIECE OF CANDY!" I said in exasperation. Once again, the nativity set was incomplete and all of my searching was in vain. Candy was a great incentive to the children. They ran all over the house and searched with all their might. In a few short moments Courtney's delighted squeals could be heard, "I found baby Jesus!"

The next morning a very interesting thing occurred. Courtney asked, "Mom, could you hide Jesus again so we can search for Him?" I knew my sugar-loving children were in it for the reward but I began to see how right they were with wanting to search for Jesus.

Christmas is ALL about Jesus. It is the celebration of His birth on the earth. He is God's gift to us...the way the truth and the life...the only way to God.

That Christmas my children taught me a lesson. They taught me that I need to daily seek Jesus with all my heart. They also showed me the JOY that comes in finding God's precious gift. The frustration of lost nativity pieces soon became an incredible blessing for our family as our children searched for Jesus each and every day!

This Christmas it is our prayer for you to find the Joy that comes from knowing Jesus and seeking Him with all your heart!

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?

We saw his star in the east and have come

to worship him."

Matthew 2:2