The Christmas Focus

This year, more than ever, I am more attentive to how my family and I celebrate Christmas. Not the whats and whens of gift exchanges and get-togethers, but the spirit, attitude, mood. I don't want this season to pass without continual acknowledgement that the Most High God knew and loved the world enough to know that he had to do something about it. He gave us such an incredible gift of love by sending us His Son. He is "Immanuel" (God WITH us). Amazing.

I think this new zeal has a lot to do with the fact that my son is now at an age where he can understand more about why we celebrate Christmas - the birth of Jesus. I want to do my best to keep the true meaning of Christmas in his mind.

Since pulling out his plastic manger scene, he has played with it almost daily. He's learned who's who and knows how to put them into the right position. I've got some crafts, songs, activities and the like lined up for the whole month to emphasize the real reason for Christmas. One of our favorites is going to the Living Nativity our old church sponsors every year. My son LOVED this last year!

One of the most intriguing ways to teach about Christ's birth that I've seen is the Jesse Tree. For those of you who are new to it, Shannon @ Rocks in My Dryer (http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2007/12/jesse-tree.html )has a series of blogs about how her family enjoys this. So cool! I plan to incorporate this next year when my son will be even more able to understand (and it will give me more time for the ornaments).

How do you emphasize the true meaning of Christmas in your households?