Christmas ... It's not that far away!

First, I want to remind you that you are invited to participate in:

The Homemade Christmas
Gift Idea Exchange
Monday, October 23, 2006
(No pictures required, recipes would be appreciated)

All you need to do is a post that shares some of your favorite homemade gifts and even how you have wrapped them or distributed them (like bags, boxes, baskets, etc.).

On that day, I will provide you with: lots of ideas; several links to posts that will have resources where you can purchase wrapping supplies, canning supplies, etc.; recipes you can use; and as many pictures as I can cram into one post without crashing blogger! It should be a fun and busy day!

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Now ... on to other Christmassy things!

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I don't know about you, but I have always struggled with the whole "Santa" and his elves business ... I hate that many families, in general, place their focus for Christmas around a big fat jolly man in red and white instead of Christ. I also hate that he (Santa) gets the credit for all the Christmas gifts under the tree!

And sadly, our children are inundated with visions and thoughts of Santa checking naughty and nice lists, little elves busily making toys, and flying reindeer warming up to deliver toys, and piles, and piles of toys and gifts under the Christmas tree. It's splattered all over the media, in the stores, in the malls, on t.v., in books ... it's e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. AND IT HAS ALREADY STARTED!!!

Even adults innocently hype our children up with, "Have you been a good boy/girl this year?" ... or ... "What's Santa bringing you this year?" ... or ... "Have you made your list and mailed it to Santa yet?" I know that there are no mean intentions behind those inquiries ... but, it still grates on my nerves that Santa ... Santa, Santa, Santa ... has, for the most part, become the main focus of this all important holiday.

So, what's a Christian family to do? How can we minimize Santa (without fully removing (or ruining) the excitement of Christmas anticipation from our children) while emphasizing Christ, his birth, and the real reason why we celebrate this symbolic holiday?

My husband and I have wrestled with these questions from almost the day I found out I was pregnant... well ... maybe it was a few months later, but we began with the struggle early on in our pregnancy. Then, Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer posted a great two-part Works-For-Me Wednesday post (links below) which caused me to think even harder about some traditions we want to implement! My husband and I have had many lengthy discussions about this, and, with the help of some friends who implement different traditions in their own family, we have come up with some conclusions that I will share with you -- Our TOP TEN Christmas things list:

1) Mom and Dad are the ones that choose the focal point in the home ... what will our focal point be? Jesus' birth? Or Santa delivering toys? Of course, we choose Jesus, and will do all we can to emphasize Christ's birth, rather than Santa delivering toys. It won't be easy, but it is do-able!

2) In the past, I had made an effort to make Jesus real to my niece (she and her mom lived with us for a while), and for many years now, I have had a gift wrapped in gold paper with a beautiful gold ribbon sitting under the tree for her from Jesus. It was a small effort on my part to try and remove the focus on Santa being the one that "provides" gifts for us at Christmas time, and return it to Jesus, his birth, and the fact that HE is our provider. And, this is a tradition I plan to carry on with our children. There will always be a small gift from Jesus under the tree for each child, along with an individualized letter from Jesus to each of them recapping their year, and encouraging them to follow Him closer in their lives with various challenges (like: pray for your family this year, or spend special time in devotions this year, or help the poor more this year) ... Mind you, it won't be a big gift ... maybe a devotional, a story book, a CD, a figurine, a cross necklace ... but what ever the gift may be ... it will emphasize spiritual matters, and will be waiting for them under the tree from Jesus. Last year, Hunter received a wooden nativity set from Jesus. (I'm not sure what he'll receive this year -- maybe a children's devotional or a children's Bible.)

3) Of course, Daddy will read the Christmas story every year. We will make it a special, cuddly time, most likely on Christmas Eve, in front of the fire, with mugs of cocoa and cookies. Why the cocoa and cookies? Ehhh -- no special reason. It just sounds good to me. Here's to another new tradition!

4) We will find other ways to bring the excitement and anticipation of Jesus and the celebration of his birth into our home throughout the month of December. One sure way of doing this is by putting together a Jesse Tree. This awesome idea was posted by my friend Shannon in a two part post - here are the links: Part 1, and Part 2. What an awesome and amazing idea! Each day in December has a devotion that you do with the kids, and there is an ornament that you make to hang on a tree that correlates to each night's theme. I'm not sure I'm really doing it justice with this explanation, but you can go to this link (thanks, Shannon) to check out the details and to get the instructions, symbols to make into ornaments, the text, and the scriptures. I plan on making some ornaments out of fabric, some out of sculpey clay and painting them, and probably even purchasing some, and who knows what else I'll come up with. We will be able to use them year after year. (I'll post a picture when I'm done) Thanks again, Shannon, for this awesome idea.

5) In the future, I want to have annual birthday parties for Jesus! It doesn't have to be a big to-do, but as my children get older, they will be welcome to invite their friends over for a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party. I'll provide them with a Christian-themed craft (like an ornament for their tree) that they can make, and party-type kid food with a birthday cake for Jesus. It's a great opportunity to share the concept of salvation with the neighborhood kids!

6) We acknowledge that Santa can not be removed from the whole Christmas equation, but Santa CAN and WILL be minimized in the celebrations here in our own home. One way we have thought of doing this is by having a Santa Bag for each child ... like the one pictured ... which can be found at Pottery Barn for Kids. Of course, in the effort to cut back on spending moolah, I will not be buying it from Pottery Barn. I will be making it ... or trying to make it. It won't have his name embroidered on it ... but that's not really important! I will make it big enough to hold a few boxes of toys, games and/or books. Anything in that bag is a gift to the child from Santa, and trust me, they will not be all those expensive "electronic x-boxy" kind of gifts (those will be from us, if they do get them!). Anything else (with the exception of the gift from Jesus) will come from Mom and Dad. (I'll post pictures of the bag once I'm done)

7) I want my children to grow up not only experiencing generosity from others, but I want them to be generous also ... after all, God was so generous with us that he gave us his son to become our savior! I'll teach them how to make homemade gifts and cards for family, friends and neighbors. Hopefully, this will also teach them that Christmas isn't all about buying gifts -- you know -- commercialism (grrr!). Hopefully, they will learn that generosity comes from the heart, not the pocket book. And, along with giving and receiving, comes the lesson of gratitude ... and ... thank you cards!

8) Each year, we will also participate with the Salvation Army's Holiday Angel Tree (go here for more info). Each year, our church gets some names of children who have parents in jail. They come on an ornament with their age, sizes, likes, and needs. We will choose one child in close age to ours, and will purchase gifts for that child. We might even be able to get one per child ... eventually!

9) We'll still do Christmas dinner and holiday cookies and goodies. Those will never go away. After all ... the smell of baking sugar cookies wafting through the house, and the sound of Christmas tunes on the radio is almost enough to drive me over the edge! Almost! Oh, and did I mention ... driving around town looking at all the Christmas lights?

10) And of course, we will focus on the various functions offered by our church and churches around us: Christmas pageants, cantatas, song-shares, caroling, live nativity scenes, etc. How exciting is that?!

So ... that's what our family plans to do. I know it sounds like I've got high expectations, but when it comes to our children's spiritual development, you bet I've got high expectations!

What do you think? Do you have an ideas you'd like to share?? Because I'm all ears!