As we go through November, I am always thinking of ways to make the upcoming holidays - both Thanksgiving and Christmas - more meaningful for our family. Now whether or not that always comes to fruition is another story! My main goal is to focus more on Christ - as He is why we celebrate Christmas. My secondary goal is to do things as a family. In the busyness of the Christmas season, it is easy to get caught up in the activities and parties. All of that will fade, but the memories we make with our families will last forever!
I wanted to take a few minutes and encourage you to find something that works for your family. It could be something you do once, or something that is repeated every year. Some may work when you have younger kids, and you may have to change the activity when they get older. Maybe you need to start a new tradition with your grandkids! Maybe you need to "adopt" some kids whose grandparents live far away! Here are a few ideas to get you started - or maybe you have some great things you love to do with your family that you could share with us!
Advent activity or Jesse Tree: Both of these are great ideas to focus on Christ throughout December. The Advent wreath/candles would probably be better for older kids, while the Jesse Tree could be a great one for younger kids. Don't stress out if it does not go just as you planned. Doing something like this over and over really does pay off in the long run! There are also some great books and ornament activities that are just as good - we have a ornament for all the names of Christ and an explination for each. This doesn't get done every year, but it is something worth doing!
Christmas programs: Find out when different churches are presenting their Christmas programs and pick a few to go to as a family. There are so many GREAT presentations out there, this is a great family outing. When it is over, go out for hot chocolate and talk about your favorite part!
Christmas Eve: Make plans now to attend a Christmas Eve service. I have found this ALWAYS sets the mood and puts our focus back on Jesus!
Birthday Cake for Jesus: Make a birthday cake/cupcake/cookie for Jesus. This is something that should be done before ANY presents are opened and, again, brings our focus back to the reason we celebrate.
Christmas cookies: Make and decorate Christmas cookies with your kids/grandkids. Then share them with your neighbors or take them to an assisted living center/fire station/ police station.
Angel Tree: Adopt a child from the Angel Tree and take your kids/grandkids shopping for that child. It certainly is a great teachable moment for your kids and a way for them to give to others.
Now for some ideas that are just for fun!
Camping by the Christmas tree: After you have finished decorating the tree, let the kids sleep by the tree for a night. They will think this is the best thing EVER! I have to admit, I have never introduced this one at our house, but know several people that make this a daddy/kid event. :)
Christmas lights: I don't know anyone that does not like looking at Christmas lights! Find out in advance some neighborhoods that have great Christmas lights. Get your kiddos ready for bed. Have them go get in the car!! You might want to have some fun snacks to take in the car. Then spend an hour riding around looking at Christmas lights and listening/singing to Christmas music. We have done this a couple of times and our kids think it is great!
Christmas PJs: One of the gifts our kiddos get every year is new pajamas. They have always been matching PJs - although I am not so sure that is still going to "fly" with a 10 and 13 year old! They get to open these on Christmas Eve and wear them to bed. They don't have to be Christmas themed - it is just fun to get new pajamas.
Ornaments: We also get our kiddos an ornament to commemorate the year. I try to make sure their name and the year is on the ornament somewhere. These will be the ones I give to them when they are out on their own.
As I said before, you have to find what works for your family. I hope these have given you some new ideas, or inspired you to come up with some new ones of your own (we would LOVE to hear from you). Treasure this time with your kids and/or grandkids!
And don't lose focus of why we celebrate. Our God gave US the greatest gift ever when He sent His precious child to earth to be our Saviour. Jesus was born in the shadow of the cross - for He came to earth as a baby so He could die in our place. We can spend eternity with God because of His sacrifice. If you would like more information about this, I urge your to call your local church or FBC McKinney (972-542-0041). There will be someone there that would love to talk to you.
Merry Christmas!
Showing posts with label traditions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traditions. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Thankfulness Box
"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations."
-- Psalm 100:4-5
For many years now, our family has taken a great American "road trip" for summer vacation. We usually tie the trip in with some business travel that my husband needs to do, and just make a vacation out of it. We've driven days to get to both northern and southern California on different trips, and this summer took us on adventures through countless states to get to Boston and back. We love to stop and see the kind of stuff along the way that you'd never see if you were jumping on a plane and headed straight for your ultimate destination. It's kind of a running joke with us that our family loves to drive through "flyover" country.
Today I was looking around at all the neighborhood Halloween decorations that were being packed away, and I excitedly told my girls that it was time to get out our Thanksgiving items. We started talking about how much we loved Thanksgiving. It truly is my favorite holiday, in part because the stores want nothing to do with it (well, maybe the grocery stores do). They were laughing at me, because I told them that it suddenly struck me that Thanksgiving is the "flyover country" of holidays.
So many people hit Halloween and then the rush to Christmas is on.. full-steam ahead. The stores start even before that time. I remember one October, going in the grocery store to pick up Halloween candy the middle of October and was stunned that the store was already clearing the Halloween candy aisle and beginning the massive red and green transformation to the "Christmas candy" aisle.
Starting about now, catalogs assault us at every turn, tv ads hawking the "latest and greatest" Christmas presents abound, the mad dash begins to "hurry up and order the hot items" for Christmas before they are impossible to find. By many, Thanksgiving is all but forgotten in the rush.
Don't get me wrong.. I love Christmas. But the rush straight past Thanksgiving kind of disturbs me. Sometimes I want to just turn it all off. Stop and exhale.. stop and breathe. This mad dash to which I'm referring doesn't feel like it has a lot to do with counting down to the celebration of Jesus' birth, anyway.
Sometimes, this happens to us when we pray, as well. We are so intent, so focused on presenting our requests to God.. sometimes we forget to stop and say "Thank You" for all the wonderful blessings we have already received and continue to receive.
I know how often I have to stop my own children and remind them to say "thanks" to someone (and sometimes that person is me). How sweet it is when they do remember, on their own, with no prompting whatsoever from Mom. How much more precious it must be to God to hear "Thank You's" from His children.
Years ago, my girls and I decorated a simple cardboard box. We wrapped it in fall colors, leaving an opening in the top and they colored all the sides with crayons. "The Thankfulness Box" was born that year in our family. All throughout the month of November, we kept a stack of small pieces of construction paper next to the box. Whenever any of us felt truly grateful for something, we tried to remember to write it down and place the paper in the Thankfulness Box.
That Thanksgiving, we left the box and papers sitting out on my parents' Thanksgiving table. We had lots of extended family in attendance,and we encouraged anyone who wished to take part to also put their notes of appreciation & thankfulness into the box. The box was sealed up after Thanksgiving and placed into the attic with all the fall decorations.
The following November, we again placed the box in a central point in our kitchen and added the slips of paper. This time, on Thanksgiving Day, we turned the box over and carefully emptied it of all its treasure.
And treasure it was. We all gathered around and read with amazement the wonderful notes of gratefulness and thanksgiving. Praises to God for all His many blessings. Thankful parents welcoming a son home from Iraq, grandparents so thankful for the blessing of a new grandbaby.. siblings grateful for each other. So many notes had to do with the blessings of a close family.
There was one note that my eye settled on almost immediately. I would have recognized that handwriting anywhere. In my Grandma's shaky script, the note read "I am thankful for my family and very much for my sweet little girls." As tears began to fall from my eyes I thanked God myself for the gift of a precious Grandma. You see, my Grandma had just passed away about ten days before I read that sweet note. She'd written it on Thanksgiving Day the year before, and it had been sealed in the box for all that time.
I would so encourage you to start a Thankfulness Box tradition in your own home. Or maybe a "Thankfulness Tree" using the same idea. Our girls just love it and so many of the sweet notes every year are in their handwriting. Even the youngest children can draw pictures of people & things for which they thank God. Encourage that daily attitude of thankfulness all year long, but especially in this month of Thanksgiving. Your family will receive such blessings from this simple tradition.
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations."
-- Psalm 100:4-5
For many years now, our family has taken a great American "road trip" for summer vacation. We usually tie the trip in with some business travel that my husband needs to do, and just make a vacation out of it. We've driven days to get to both northern and southern California on different trips, and this summer took us on adventures through countless states to get to Boston and back. We love to stop and see the kind of stuff along the way that you'd never see if you were jumping on a plane and headed straight for your ultimate destination. It's kind of a running joke with us that our family loves to drive through "flyover" country.
Today I was looking around at all the neighborhood Halloween decorations that were being packed away, and I excitedly told my girls that it was time to get out our Thanksgiving items. We started talking about how much we loved Thanksgiving. It truly is my favorite holiday, in part because the stores want nothing to do with it (well, maybe the grocery stores do). They were laughing at me, because I told them that it suddenly struck me that Thanksgiving is the "flyover country" of holidays.
So many people hit Halloween and then the rush to Christmas is on.. full-steam ahead. The stores start even before that time. I remember one October, going in the grocery store to pick up Halloween candy the middle of October and was stunned that the store was already clearing the Halloween candy aisle and beginning the massive red and green transformation to the "Christmas candy" aisle.
Starting about now, catalogs assault us at every turn, tv ads hawking the "latest and greatest" Christmas presents abound, the mad dash begins to "hurry up and order the hot items" for Christmas before they are impossible to find. By many, Thanksgiving is all but forgotten in the rush.
Don't get me wrong.. I love Christmas. But the rush straight past Thanksgiving kind of disturbs me. Sometimes I want to just turn it all off. Stop and exhale.. stop and breathe. This mad dash to which I'm referring doesn't feel like it has a lot to do with counting down to the celebration of Jesus' birth, anyway.
Sometimes, this happens to us when we pray, as well. We are so intent, so focused on presenting our requests to God.. sometimes we forget to stop and say "Thank You" for all the wonderful blessings we have already received and continue to receive.
I know how often I have to stop my own children and remind them to say "thanks" to someone (and sometimes that person is me). How sweet it is when they do remember, on their own, with no prompting whatsoever from Mom. How much more precious it must be to God to hear "Thank You's" from His children.
Years ago, my girls and I decorated a simple cardboard box. We wrapped it in fall colors, leaving an opening in the top and they colored all the sides with crayons. "The Thankfulness Box" was born that year in our family. All throughout the month of November, we kept a stack of small pieces of construction paper next to the box. Whenever any of us felt truly grateful for something, we tried to remember to write it down and place the paper in the Thankfulness Box.
That Thanksgiving, we left the box and papers sitting out on my parents' Thanksgiving table. We had lots of extended family in attendance,and we encouraged anyone who wished to take part to also put their notes of appreciation & thankfulness into the box. The box was sealed up after Thanksgiving and placed into the attic with all the fall decorations.
The following November, we again placed the box in a central point in our kitchen and added the slips of paper. This time, on Thanksgiving Day, we turned the box over and carefully emptied it of all its treasure.
And treasure it was. We all gathered around and read with amazement the wonderful notes of gratefulness and thanksgiving. Praises to God for all His many blessings. Thankful parents welcoming a son home from Iraq, grandparents so thankful for the blessing of a new grandbaby.. siblings grateful for each other. So many notes had to do with the blessings of a close family.
There was one note that my eye settled on almost immediately. I would have recognized that handwriting anywhere. In my Grandma's shaky script, the note read "I am thankful for my family and very much for my sweet little girls." As tears began to fall from my eyes I thanked God myself for the gift of a precious Grandma. You see, my Grandma had just passed away about ten days before I read that sweet note. She'd written it on Thanksgiving Day the year before, and it had been sealed in the box for all that time.
I would so encourage you to start a Thankfulness Box tradition in your own home. Or maybe a "Thankfulness Tree" using the same idea. Our girls just love it and so many of the sweet notes every year are in their handwriting. Even the youngest children can draw pictures of people & things for which they thank God. Encourage that daily attitude of thankfulness all year long, but especially in this month of Thanksgiving. Your family will receive such blessings from this simple tradition.
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