Can you believe there's ONLY 10 days till CHRISTmas? Where did the year go? Normally each Christmas we head home to spend this special time with our families in Indiana but this year we're staying here. In some ways I'll miss being with all our family but in another ways I'm really looking forward to having CHRISTmas with just us...our family of seven. I've been trying to think of ways we can really make this year extra special since we won't have the hustle and bustle of trying to get to everyone's place and spend time visiting and make sure everyone and their brother sees us before we leave town (that can be more than stressful). SO...this year we will open ONE gift on the hour each hour until they run out :-) ... that won't take all day because we don't put a large emphasis on getting all the 'latest and greatest' as the excitement for those things only last a few days and then they're back to wanting just regular household goods to play with :-)
Some things we're doing this year are:
1. Having a place at our table for Jesus to 'be with us' I want HIS PRESENCE to be with us all day long. You may say, "Well, He is always with us." BUT do WE really take the time to remember that HE IS WITH US?
2. I've already asked the girls to be thinking about what GIFT they want to GIVE to JESUS. I have a decorative box that someone gave me a gift in and I refuse to 're-gift' it to someone else because it's SO SO CUTE! I have it on top of my kitchen cabinets in amongst some other decor. I've asked them to think about something they want to give JESUS more of this coming year. Some things I mentioned were: spend more time in prayer, spend more time reading their Bible, witnessing more, giving more monies to Jesus, being more faithful in obeying etc. I am going to make up a decorative sheet for them to write down what they will personally GIVE to Jesus. We will all place them in this box and it will be put away for the next year until we get the decorations out for next CHRISTmas. Then we'll get to see for ourselves if we really GIFTED Jesus what we said we would. No one will know or see what the others wrote...this is personal.
3. Of coarse, S. (our 4th daughter only 6) wants to make a birthday cake for Jesus...I'm good with that :-)
What's one more dessert, right?
4. We will share the Christmas story before we even begin gifting each other. We normally do this at my parents and it's a special time to just reflect on WHY we are celebrating CHRISTmas and get our focus on HIM instead of US.
5. I plan to have Christmas music FILLING the home and we'll probably end the evening watching an old Christmas movie...wouldn't surprise me if it's not Charlie Brown's Christmas (seems to be a favorite in our home)
So as we're all busy this CHRISTmas season, I hope you'll take some time to PURPOSELY plan ahead and make sure you spend time reflecting on the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas. I truly believe this is the most wonderful time of the year. A time we can reflect back on God's GOODNESS to us and yet look forward to 2013 anticipating what GOD will do in each of our homes. I trust when CHRISTmas comes around in 2013 that I will be able to say I am closer to HIM than I am now and that our home is more and more centered around Christ and HIS WILL for our family.
Have a blessed CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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