Celebrating Christmas...

I love December...and all that it means to our family. I look forward to this busy month all year. Every year, I remind myself to start earlier, be more organized and prepared. Is it really almost over? Is it really almost 2010?

Our December looked something like this:
December 1 The boys' first basketball game.
December 5 Christmas Cantata
December 10 Alaina's first Upwards Cheerleading practice
December 12 Alaina's Winter Dance recital AND our adoption community Christmas party
December 18 Lots and lots of snow!!
December 20 Benjamin's 3rd birthday
December 22 Santa on a firetruck driving through the neighborhood and we visited a drive through Live Nativity.
December 23 Our little family Christmas at home...opened gifts in the morning and my birthday celebration at night.
December 24 Traveled to my parents for Christmas. Spent the day with my brother and family.
December 25 Hudson's 4th birthday
December 26 Christmas with Joel's family
December 27 Arrived home.
Not listed was the normal....dance 5 days a week and basketball practice and games 4 days a week...plus cleaning house, organizing party supplies, wrapping gifts and packing.

After it's all over, I now can relax and enjoy.

Joel's sister gave me a book for my birthday, The Adventures of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel. I cannot wait to implement her ideas next year. Oh..is it really 12 months away? I cannot wait.

I love how she says it, "Now it is my desire to lure parents into the hustle and bustle of Christmas and then set them free to join their children in the celebration - guilt free."

She gave me this book at the perfect time. I've been thinking a lot about how we celebrate Christmas. We all know that Jesus wasn't born on December 25. More than likely, he was born in the spring or fall.

During the 4th century A.D., the Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day to celebrate Jesus's birth. From my understanding, they chose December 25 because it was the day that the heathen were celebrating the "sun." This day, would then be a celebration of Christ's birth. Instead of "sun" worship, it would be Son worship.

If you are interested, you can do a search online for "Christ Mass."

Thinking about this disturbed me for several days. I didn't know how to digest this and how it fits into our family, our traditions and what we have always known to be 'normal.'

If you ask my children what is the true meaning of Christmas, they would say, "It's when we celebrate Jesus's birthday."

I love how RC Sproul explains it in The Glory of Christmas.

Does it really matter when we celebrate Christ's birth? As Christians, we should celebrate his birth with thanksgiving in our hearts...daily.

Jesus has always been. He came to earth in human form for one reason....to die for our sins so we can live forever with him.

While on this earth for such a short time, he performed many miracles. He did die a painful death on the cross. He was buried and rose again the third day. He is now in Heaven... ALIVE.

That's why we celebrate Christ. We celebrate him in all things. We give him our lives..totally.

So, how do we teach our children to 'see Christ' in this crazy holiday season? Just like we do all year long. We teach them to see Christ in the hearts of his people, in the beauty of his creation, and the reminder of why he came.

I think the most important thing to remember, and I think is Lisa Whelchel's point, is to take this world- wide holiday, and make memories for your children. Since everything we do in life should be surrounded by God and his purpose for our lives, lets make our own traditions and celebrate the reason He came. Let's serve those less fortunate and make many wonderful memories for our children. I love parties. I love to celebrate. I think God finds pleasure in us celebrating Him. Let's celebrate life..abundantly.

For now, that's what I'm feeling I'm called to do...making memories and teaching them about HIM.

Don't be surprised if you see a post from me that says that our family has already been reading Lisa Whelchel's book all year long. Don't guess it would be culturally accepted if I left up our lights on the stairs all year. I love those beautiful lights. They make me smile.

Be looking for our many 'celebrations' posted soon. From our Christmas Cantata, three birthdays, family gatherings, and our own family Christmas at home, I plan to share it all. Soon.