Keeping Christ in Christmas

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday, sometimes it is easy to get swept up in the commercialism of Christmas. Christian families are often wondering how to keep Christ the focus of the season.  I love the lights, the music, the way people seem to be a little more generous and the traditions that surround Christmas.  I would never suggest that those things need to be eliminated, but they do need to take a backseat to the true meaning of Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth.

Here are some ideas for keeping Christ in Christmas:

1) Make the nativity the focus of your decorations. We have the tree in the living room like most people. I have hung a few nativity and angel ornaments on the tree.  I also have numerous nativities in the dining room and in the kitchen. The nativities are placed in several locations at eye-level so that they are constantly a reminder of the reason for the celebration. (Click here to see my Nativity's post for pictures of many of my nativities.)

2) The advent calendar that counts down our days to Christmas is also a nativity.  There are several available.  I bought a Fisher Price Little People's Nativity Advent calendar for my daughter when she was four years old.  She loves to take one of the nativity characters out of the pouch each day and place it around the stable.

3) Our Church promotes a program called Light the World. Each day from December 1st to the 25th there is a teaching of Jesus Christ and a suggestion for a way to serve someone based on that teaching.  My daughter and I have completed all sorts of service activities including ringing the bell for Salvation Army, donating warm clothes to a shelter and taking food and treats to friends.

4) If you love Christmas movies as much as I do, watch the ones with a good message about there being more to Christmas than Santa and presents and then have family discussion about them afterward.  Here are some of my favorites:

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon and Jim Carrey versions)
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Any of the versions of "A Christmas Carol" with my favorite being Mickey's Christmas Carol or the one with George C. Scott.  Believe it or not, my least favorite one is the Disney version with Jim Carrey.  

5) One of the best ways to keep Christ in Christmas is to read the story of the birth of Christ.  We read a part of the story almost every day in the month of December.  With small children it is much easier if you break it up into parts.  Below is an example of a reading schedule with links to the Scriptures:

• The prophecy of the birth of Christ in Isaiah 7:14-16; 9:6-7.
• The angel Gabriel comes to Mary in Luke 1:26-38.
• Mary goes to stay with her cousin Elisabeth (Mother of John the Baptist) in Luke 1:39-56.
• An Angel comes to Joseph to explain about Mary's pregnancy in Matthew 1:18-25.
• Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem and Jesus is born in Luke 2:1-7.
• Angels tell the Shepherds the Good News in Luke 2:8-20.
• The Wise Men visit the Christ Child in Matthew 2:1-14.