obsessed

A Christmas obsessed with Jesus: That's what we're going for.

As the girls get older, we're spending more time thinking about what that means Christmas should look like at our house, especially while they are young, especially as we have the advantage of little to no influence from the media/malls/etc.  

We've spent so many years saying that Jesus is the reason for the season--but acting like a hundred other things are.  

We say He, and the things He stands for, are what it's all about, but we sure do throw a lot of competing factors in there, especially ones that are, let's face it, going to be WAY more appealing to three year olds.

If you had asked me as a child "What is the true meaning of Christmas?"  Yes.  I absolutely would have told you "Jesus."  But as magical and fantastic as my Christmases were growing up, the amount of time and money and energy and excitement we spent on Santa and reindeer and presents FAR outweighed what was poured into the "true meaning."  

So while you can tweak or borrow or throw out these ideas, here's what our efforts to obsess the season with Christ look like...

1)  If you were to drop in anytime in the next few weeks, you'll see that we just aren't spending time on Santa.  I know.  It takes a nasty mean couple to rob toddlers of a jolly present-bearing man.  

We're NOT anti-Santa, banning him from our home nor teaching in any way, shape, or form that he is bad.  On the contrary, we're sharing with the girls St. Nicholas from the 3rd Century and of his devotion to Jesus and the poor.

We're not obliterating Santa.  We're just not focusing on him.  We realize from our own childhoods that the glamour of Santa and the idea that being good leads to more stuff for yourself is captivating and exciting...and often makes the true meaning of Christmas somehow seem dull.  

The desire to focus on self and on receiving is already IN our children.  I don't want to encourage and promote that in them...I want to work AGAINST that in them and in myself, from the start, even at Christmas.  

Especially at Christmas--when God sent His Son to work against self.

We believe in and have experienced such wonder and majesty and holiness and excitement to be found in the gift of Jesus!  As we sing through "O Holy Night" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" each season, our hearts are THRILLED with His coming, with His life...for what He represents. 

And while it might be more challenging to creatively share that with our children, we believe it to be possible, and that's our focus this Season.  

We want Christmas to be His...ALL His.  About Him.  For Him.  Full of what He represents.  Giving.  Laying down your life for others.  Light in the darkness.  The unexpected.  Reverence.  Awe.  Worship.

Don't Miss This:  We are NOT judging you and whatever you're doing!  We are always learning from others and trusting that God is doing all kinds of different things in all kinds of different people at all kinds of different times.  We've been all over the spectrum on this, and we're just sharing where we're at right now.

2)  To work on putting the sparkle in the Reason for the season, we're creating some new traditions, buying a few new kids books, and our Christmas countdown this year is leading us through the Word to His birth.  

For the second time, we're pulling from "The Truth is in the Tinsel", daily sharing stories from the Word and diving into Christmas crafts and ornaments to commemorate each day.   A few of the special Christmas books by our tree are Room for a Little One, Humphrey's First Christmas, The Jesus Storybook Bible,  The Advent Storybook, The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Giving, God Gave Us Christmas, and The Tale of Three Trees.

A few years ago, Uncle Don got Lily this nativity set, and instead of playing through countless stories of reindeers and chimneys this season, the girls are already glued to playing through the Word's Christmas stories...those of Joseph and Mary, of the evil King Herod and his plotting, of the radiant angels appearing to shepherds, of glittering kings bringing gifts.    

Lily can't wait to watch Rudolph.  But she's just as excited to watch Veggie's Little Drummer Boy, and The Nativity Story.  

3) You know where this is going.  If we're saturating the season with Christ, our spending has got to reflect Him, too.  My mother made Christmas SO special for us.  But my family will all readily agree...we went NUTS.  Way-too-much.  It was like everyone's birthdays on steroids.  

I readily admit that this would be much more difficult if we were in the States.  There will be no trips to Target, no toy commercials, no mall browsing for us this Christmas, which makes it way easier to bless loved ones and our children with a few small gifts or memories, and keep the focus on Christ.  But I do believe this is possible, no matter what culture we live in. 

Each year, we get the girls each one thing they want, one thing they need, one thing to share, and one thing to read.  Want, need, share, read.

So (please don't tell them :), the girls will each be getting a doll, new dinner sets, a new book, and they are (well, Lily is) picking a toy or gift to buy and wrap.  Together, our family chooses another family in the community who is really struggling right now, and on Christmas day they will get to take their gifts to the little friends they have chosen, and we get to share with their parents a gift from our family.

Matt and I are doing something for each other (I'm cleaning out his office, which could really use your prayers, by the way :), and we're working hard to gift extended family members and friends something meaningful, memorable or useful (read: reasonable).  We want our credit card statement to reflect what Christmas is all about.  (read: not ME.)

We want to bring delight and joy to those around us, to our children...but all with the focus on His Gift.  



I want the real meaning of Christmas this year to be obvious, central and to be invited to impact us profoundly.  Two thousand years ago, His birth changed everything.  And it still can.  It's still supposed to.  

Have any creative ideas or thoughts?  Please share!!

As always, we remain your eccentric, out of touch, frumpy, slightly weird, "extreme" friends down South who want very much to love others and Him better, and live Him better each day.  

Merry Christmas Season, with a God worth celebrating!