Our First Christmas

In a way, we feel like this year will be our first Christmas. It will be the first of many Christmases that we spend together as a family in our own home (we'll do all our traveling after the fact). Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year, and I've been dreaming up grand plans and traditions that we can make our own this year. In the back of my mind, though, there's always been a part of me that thinks that I don't make a big enough deal about why we celebrate Christmas. In the past, it has been too easy for me to keep that thought in the back of my mind, or to just satisfy it by throwing in some little conversations here and there and adding in a little extra Bible reading.

Yesterday, I read this, and it completely changed my outlook. You have to stop and read it now, or the rest of this post will not make much sense.

My first reaction was thinking this is crazy! Who'd give up presents at Christmas time?! What kind of bad parent would you have to be to not get your kids any Christmas presents?!

My second reaction was one of guilt. Why do I think it's okay to be satisfied with making Christ a small part of Christmas? How can I feel bad about giving up my presents when God gave up His Son for me?

My third reaction was hope. As in, I hope that I can just feel bad about this for a while, and then go back to having "real" Christmas plans, or I hope that maybe God just wants to show me to do a little better at sharing the true meaning of Christmas with my girls.

My fourth reaction was shame. I'm sorry, I can't be a better follower of You. I just can't.

My fifth reaction was to question. Why can't I? What is holding me back? What lessons do I want to teach my girls? What do they need that they don't already have? Is getting them a new doll or toy that will be played with for a while and then be forgotten under the bed more important than teaching them to love and care for others because we love Jesus and want others to love Him? Why can't I?

My final reaction was one of acceptance and excitement. In fact, the more I thought about it while I was waiting to talk about it with Andy, the more excited I got! I think the clincher for me was thinking about it as Jesus' birthday (not that I've never heard that before - just that I've never taken the time to honestly think about how we celebrate His birthday). Birthdays were always a huge deal in my house when I was growing up. They were pretty much equivalent to a national holiday. I've continued in that pattern and made my girls' birthdays a pretty big deal every year. Why have I made Jesus' birthday a big deal for us instead of for Him?  Well, things are about to change!

With this being our "first" Christmas, it's the perfect time to set new traditions. Here's our take on it. We are going to give presents to Jesus for his birthday! It's not about us - it's about Him! On Christmas morning, the girls will have one special present from us to help us talk about the most important gift that we've ever received. They will have stockings as their "treat bags" from Jesus at His party. We will then spend time around the Christmas tree with catalogs from Compassion, Samaritan's Purse, Partners International Harvest of Hope, World Vision, Gospel for Asia, and any others we find. Together, we will pick out presents for Jesus.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25: 34-40.

*For clarification, I don't think that gift giving at Christmas time is wrong. Our Christmas will actually last about a week with all the traveling and spending time with our families, and many presents will be given and received over that time. For us, in our own home though, this is how we have chosen to celebrate our Christmas morning and our personal gift exchanges.