The excitement of Christmas has already begun at our house. Our California children are flying in next week for the month, the tree is decorated, the Christmas lists are made out, and soon the baking, shopping, and parties will be in full swing.  It is so easy in all this activity to let the real meaning of Christmas go unmentioned.  We adults know that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday but how are our children going to know unless we tell them.  They may see this only as a time when all the relatives get together or there’s lots of goodies to eat or everyone gives them gifts.

Enjoy the traditional practices of Christmas.  Don’t be so different from the world that the world wouldn’t want what you have. An old English historical writing contains a letter from Pope Gregory to Saint Mellitus, who was on his way to England to do missionary work among the pagan Anglo-Saxons. Pope Gregory suggested that converting heathens would go easier if they were allowed to keep some of their traditional practices, while reinterpreting those traditions spiritually towards the Christian God instead of to their pagan ‘devils’.

Today we as Christians should hear what Pope Gregory said and enjoy the traditions of the world, but be sure to give them Spiritual meaning for our families. Make every effort to teach the real meaning of Christmas through everything you do:

• While decorating the tree share that the evergreen tree reminds us of the everlasting love Jesus has for us.  The tree is like a big birthday cake for Jesus and the lights are the candles.  The lights remind us that Jesus is the Light of the world and that “God lights our darkness” (2 Samuel 22:29)
• While wrapping gifts share “It is better to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) Point out that because it is Jesus’ birthday we give gifts.  Jesus said when we give to one another it is the same as giving to him. (And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Matthew 25:40) Share “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).   Make sure your children are involved in making or purchasing gifts to give so they are not just on the receiving end of the gifts.  Also point out that giving is not only things, but he can give love, friendship, help, and joy.
• Make the manger scene central in your decorations. Be sure your children hear the Christmas story from the Bible often. It’s fine to tell them the pretend stories of Santa and elves, Rudolph and Frosty, but be sure to tell the true story of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, angels, Shepherds, etc.  Also help them understand the true story of Santa.  He loved Jesus so much that he wanted to give to others.  A good book about Santa is “Santa, Are You for Real? “ by Harold Myra.

Check Train Up The Child for ways to relate the real Reason for the Season to traditional seasonal objects.  Just search on the site for ‘Christmas’, ‘Keeping Christ in Christmas’,  or for a traditional object (ex. Santa, trees, wreaths, mistletoe, etc.)

Tonight all 10 members of the Daws family are home together for the first time in a year and we just had our annual birthday party for Jesus. We sang happy birthday and blew out candles on cupcakes.  We unwrapped the present for Jesus which is a box with the last 20 years of thank you’s we have given Him.  We read 2010 thank you’s and then drew pictures of things we are thankful for that happened this year.  We guessed what each one is thankful for from the pictures each drew.  Then we sang Christmas carols by candlelight.

I hope Jesus enjoyed His party as much as we did.

Christmas is in full swing in our home and all our children are headed here soon. The exterior illumination is up, trees are decorated, stockings are hung, and shopping has begun.  We have always used the tangible, traditional things of Christmas to teach the real reason for the season.

Examples:

• While decorating the tree share that the evergreen tree reminds us of the everlasting love Jesus has for us.  The tree is like a big birthday cake for Jesus and the lights are the candles.  The lights remind us that Jesus is the Light of the world (As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”John 9:5) and that “God lights our darkness” (2 Samuel 22:29)
• While wrapping gifts share “It is better to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) Point out that because it is Jesus’ birthday we give gifts.  Jesus said when we give to one another it is the same as giving to him. (And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Matthew 25:40) Share “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).   Make sure your children are involved in making or purchasing gifts to give so they are not just on the receiving end of the gifts.  Also point out that giving is not only things, but he can give love, friendship, help, and joy.
• Make sure your children hear the Christmas story from the Bible often. It’s fine to tell them the pretend stories of Santa and elves, Rudolph and Frosty, but be sure to tell the true story of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, angels, Shepherds, etc.  Also help them understand the true story of Santa.  He loved Jesus so much that he wanted to give to others.  A good book about Santa is “Santa, Are You for Real? “ by Harold Myra.

Begin some family traditions that your children will cherish and carry on after they have families of their own.  Here are some of our family’s:

• Make a December calendar with all the special events listed or pictured.  Mark off each day till Christmas.
• Make decorating the tree a family affair.  Sing as you decorate.
• Put the Christmas cards you receive in a basket and choose one each day to pray for the family who sent it.
• Have a birthday party for Jesus complete with birthday cupcakes, candles, and singing Happy Birthday.  Also, we draw pictures of what we want to thank Jesus for and wrap it up each year.  Every year at the birthday party we open up the present for Jesus we wrapped up the year before and see what we put in.
• Plan a night for all the family to sleep under the tree.  Go to sleep listening to Christmas carols after Dad has read the Christmas Story.
• Choose a family who has had a hard year to show some special kindness to in some way.
• Make Christmas cookies together and give to the neighbors.
• Make Christmas ornaments to add to your tree or to give away.  (Recipe for clay dough: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/3 cup of water.  Mix salt and flour, add water a little at a time.  Mix with hands. After cutting out with Christmas cookie cutters, bake in 225 degree oven for 15 minutes on each side.)
• Look at pictures from previous Christmases
• The Christmas Web
• Act out the Christmas story. Involve the whole family including pets, dolls, stuffed animals
• Memorize a different scripture each week related to Christmas:
  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:11
  God loved us and sent His Son.  1 John 4:10
  It’s better to give than to receive.  Acts 20:35
  The shepherds praised God.  Luke 2:20

Search this website for ways to take the traditions of Christmas and use them to Keep Christ in Christmas during the 25 days of December.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

JESUS!!!

Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

This was first announced to the shepherds, who were the lower class citizens of that day . . . Jesus was born for all mankind, rich and poor.

Have a birthday party for Jesus, complete with cupcakes and candles and singing happy birthday to Him. Our family does this sometime during the season when we can give Jesus full attention apart from the gift giving to each other. The present for Jesus is always the first to go under the tree, wrapped in gold or silver paper. It is filled with papers from previous years where we have all drawn on one side pictures of several things we are thankful for through the last year; everyone has to guess what the pictures are. On the other side we have written the things we want to give Jesus in the coming year such as more time with Him or showing more compassion for others, etc. We open the gift at the birthday party and read what each wrote the previous year, make the sheet for the present year, and then wrap it back up. We end the evening with singing Christmas carols by candle light.

Thank you for celebrating the birth of Jesus each day this month through this blog. Happy Christmas Day!

According to a Gallup poll, the average American expects to spend approximately $763 on Christmas this year. Those earning at least $75,000 a year plan to spend more than $1,100.  There is always some new gadget or toy to try and find.  People spend the night outside of stores just to have a chance at buying the latest hard-to-find, must-have item.

In an earlier era, the general store stocked about a thousand different products. But today, the typical Wal-Mart superstore stocks 130,000 items. Not long after the Halloween candy is eaten, the sounds of Jingle Bell Rock start to invade department stores and the “happy holidays” greetings begin to be heard. The rush is on! The traffic increases.

Along with shopping, there is cooking, gift-wrapping, parties, card-writing, and more.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

For a long time, we have incorporated an activity into our Christmas traditions, called ‘The Christmas Web’. I don’t remember where we got the idea of it, but a few years ago we visited the Antebellum Plantation at Stone Mountain and were surprised to see that this was even done way back around the turn of the 19th century.

19th Century Antebellum Home

2010 Daws Home

The idea is that the true message of Christmas has become lost in a ‘web of commercialism’. We tell our kids that it is their job to find the true meaning of Christmas. We put all of them in one bedroom with the door closed while we take 5 rolls of yarn (one for each child). We weave the rolls like a giant spider web all over the house into every room and out onto the patio. It is hard to even move when it is complete. At the end of the roll, we tie a small symbolic gift. The gift has been a small flashlight that symbolizes ‘turning the light on to dispel the darkness’ in our world, or a new cup that symbolizes ‘being the kind of vessel God can use’.

While the children follow their own web through the house, we talk about finding the true meaning of Christmas that is mysteriously hidden in all the hustle and bustle of the season.

Mark 4:11 And Jesus said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.” In Col. 1:26-27, Paul writes, “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2, 1904 in Springfield, MA. During WW II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel wrote for Frank Capra’s Signal Corps Unit and won Oscars for Hitler Lives and Design for Death. He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar. In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said that children were having trouble reading because their books were boring. This inspired “Dr. Seuss”, as he became known, to write The Cat in the Hat, using 220 words. In 1960 someone bet him that he couldn’t write an entire book using only fifty words and the result was Green Eggs and Ham.

Dr. Seuss completed How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 1957. The Grinch, a bitter, cave-dwelling creature with a heart “two sizes too small,” lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep, 3,000 foot high mountain just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is Max, his faithful dog. From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Envious of the Whos’ happiness, he makes plans to descend on the town and steal their Christmas presents and decorations and thus “prevent Christmas from coming”. However, he learns in the end that despite his success in taking all the Christmas things from the Whos, Christmas comes just the same. He then realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents. His heart grows three sizes larger, he returns all the presents and trimmings, and is warmly welcomed into the community of the Whos.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

Christmas transcends gifts and trees and stockings and credit card purchases. A Christmas without presents or decorations is still Christmas, which is God’s awesome statement to the world that He loves us, and no one can take that away. Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” is, for many, the quintessential American movie, and the perfect holiday film.  Jimmy Stewart often said about the movie,“Of all the 80 films I’ve made, it’s my favorite.”

At the end of 1945, Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart had both just returned from World War II — and both returned sobered, with a darker view of humanity. Searching for a project to re-establish himself in Hollywood, Capra formed his own production company and optioned a property entitled “The Greatest Gift”: a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern, originally written on a Christmas card. This went through multiple rewrites before it became It’s a Wonderful Life.

Just like George Bailey began his life, Capra began the project with the highest of hopes. He had every expectation that the film would be a popular success, and perhaps even sweep the Oscars. But disappointment began the day of its release as generally favorable reviews were not enough to encourage more than mediocre box office returns. And of its five Oscar nominations, it won none, losing the “Big Three” — best picture, actor and director — to William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives, a film which seemed to capture the spirit of post-war America more closely with its realism than Capra had managed with his fantasy. Capra was crushed.

Yet over the years people continued writing to him about the movie, emphasizing how much it had touched them. Capra wrote in his biography, “I woke up one Christmas morning, and the whole world was watching ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’.” Just as George Bailey’s local community came to his rescue when they discovered he was in trouble, so did the community of America rally around the movie, elevating Capra’s forgotten classic to its current status as part of our Christmas ritual.

Frustrated in aspirations to have more, to do more, and to be somebody, George Bailey is a mirror of Americans, as we all strive to better our lot. However, even living the most idealist American dream life can somehow leave us unsatisfied. Over half a century later, George Bailey has become a legendary character in 20th century American culture. Through our identification with him and his trials, we can see a reflection of our own wonderful, horrible lives — and maybe gain some insight into the true American values.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

When you watch the movie, realize that only Jesus can make it a wonderful life. John 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Also, just as the movie showed how George Bailey touched so many lives, you were placed here by a sovereign God to touch lives that only you can touch. Always keep in mind that others are observing and being affected by your life. Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

Whatever our age, we all see Christmas as the time for writing letters to “Santa”, enumerating the things we have been wanting all year. Over the years, Santa has gotten more letters requesting the Red Ryder BB gun and the Easy Bake Oven than any other toys.

The Red Ryder BB Gun is a BB gun made by Daisy Outdoor Products and introduced in 1938, named for the comic strip cowboy character Red Ryder. The BB gun is still in production despite the fact that the comic strip was canceled in 1963. The Red Ryder BB Gun is a lever-action, spring piston air gun with a smoothbore barrel, adjustable iron sights, and a gravity feed magazine with a 650 BB capacity. The Red Ryder BB gun was featured in the popular 1980’s film A Christmas Story, where the main character is desperate to get one, but is constantly thwarted with the warning “You’ll shoot your eye out”. The movie’s fictional BB gun, described as the “Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle BB gun with a compass in
the stock and a thing which tells time,” does not correspond to any actual production model.

America’s first working toy oven, was turquoise and had a carrying handle and fake stove top. It was invented by designers at Kenner Products (now a division of Hasbro). In its first year, 1963, over 500,000 lucky kids talked their parents into spending $15.95. By its fifth birthday, the EASY-BAKE Oven was a household name. In 1965, Hasbro introduced the Kid Dinners for the oven which were mini TV-dinner-like trays partitioned into three sections to hold beef and macaroni, peas and carrots. In 1968, General Mills created very cool miniature boxed versions of its Betty Crocker products for the EASY-BAKE Oven. The oven is still in production almost 50 years later.

Now it is 2010 and the hot items are the Xbox, the iphone, and the ipad. No matter what the item, we all have something we desire.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

When you make your wish lists, just remember that all these things will never bring you complete fulfillment. But there is One who is the Desire of all people, whether they know it or not, who will bring fulfillment. Haggai 2:7 (NKJV) ‘…and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. The Christ Child is the “Desire of All Nations”!

[Along with our Christmas wish list, our family also makes out a "Grown-Up Christmas List" which is composed of our personal spiritual desires for our lives for the coming year.  Each family member has a copy of everyone's requests so we can pray for each other.  Each year at our birthday party for Jesus we take inventory of our lives to see the results of the prayers throughout the year.]

Near the end of the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, we hear the jingling of a small silver bell? Jimmy Stewart’s small daughter says “Look, Daddy, teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.” This is just a myth, but the ringing of bells has been significant for several reasons since ancient times.

Orthodox churches always had bells to call the faithful to public worship. Town criers would walk about ringing bells in order to communicate the news to the town. Single bells (usually of gold or silver) called “crotals” were mounted on Knight’s warhorses in Medieval times for show and as a symbol of wealth. Horse bells came to be viewed as a source of good luck and as protection from evil and disease. Many people believed that such bells would attract wealth or other good fortune. Their practical use was as a warning to pedestrians and other drivers on narrow roadways.

The merry tune of “Jingle Bells” is perhaps the most recognizable of all Christmas music. Often it is the first holiday song learned by children. Though by strict definition not a Christmas carol, it is one of the top twenty-five songs in the history of recorded music. Written by James Pierpoint sometime during the late 1840s or early 1850s, “Jingle Bells” was publicly performed for a Thanksgiving program at the Savannah, Georgia Unitarian Universalist Church in 1857 where Pierpoint was the organist. His merry little tune proved so popular that it was requested for the Christmas program at the church a month later. From there, its fame grew.

When bells are rung, a message is sent out for all to hear . . . either a good message or a message of warning. The message can be of a town meeting or of a church service beginning or the bell of a ship that is in distress.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

When you sing “Jingle Bells”, let the bells be a reminder  that you are meant to be a bell that broadcasts the message of hope and good tidings that Jesus is come.  At times you are to be a warning bell to those who are rejecting Christ.  1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The Christmas season is not just sights and sounds. What is Christmas without the smells and tastes of Christmas cookies, Christmas ham, egg nog, wassail, candy, and other good things coming out of the kitchen during this season?

The history of Christmas Cookies began with the people of the Persian Empire of the 7th century AD. The actual word ‘cookie’ comes from the Dutch word Koeptje [koekje], meaning small cake. Cookies spread all over Europe by 1500. Gingerbread was probably the first cake/cookie to be traditionally related with Christmas. The people of Sweden preferred Papparkakor (spicy ginger and black-pepper delights), while the Norwegians took to the liking of Krumkake (thin lemon and cardamom-scented wafers).

Our Christmas cookies (pictured above) are my mother’s old-fashioned tea cookies: 3/4 cup crisco, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 & 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 2 & 1/2 cup Self-rising flour. Mix all together, roll out, cut into shapes, and bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.  Ice with butter cream frosting: 1 box confectioner sugar, dash of salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup butter.  Making the Christmas cookies is a family tradition that we all do together each year.

Wassail is a hot, spiced punch often associated with winter celebrations of northern Europe, such as Christmas, New Year’s and Twelfth Night. The term itself is a contraction of the Old English toast wæs þu hæl, meaning “be in good health”. A popular Christmas song mentions wassailing, which is groups of people either bearing wassail or begging for it, going from house to house singing and reveling. This is believed to be a custom of helping the poor without placing them in the category of, as a version of the song notes, “daily beggars”. It is also a way of preserving a perishable crop – apples, by turning them into something that can be preserved – cider, which is traditionally a central ingredient for Wassail. Today sugar, ale, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon are placed in a bowl, heated, and topped with slices of toast.

Yule Ham is a traditional dish in Scandinavian and English celebrations. The tradition is often suggested to have began as a tribute to Freyr, a major German god associated with boars and fertility. The boar’s head with apple in mouth was carried into the banquet hall as a sacrifice with the intent of imploring Freyer to show favor in the new year.

Our family enjoys a Christmas smoked ham (without the head). The recipe is simple: Trim the fat from a smoked ham. Wrap it in tinfoil and cook all night on Christmas Eve at 325 degrees. Next morning as you awake to a delicious smell, mix 3/4 can of coke, pineapple juice from a large can of pineapple, and one box of brown sugar. Pour over the ham and cook for one more hour. During the hour, baste often with the juice and sugar as deep into the meat as you can. Yummm!

Many believe that eggnog is a tradition that was brought to America from Europe. This is partially true. Eggnog is related to various milk and wine punches that had been concocted long ago in the “Old World”. However, in America a new twist was put on the theme. Rum was used in the place of wine. In Colonial America, rum was commonly called “grog”, so the name eggnog is likely derived from the very descriptive term for this drink, “egg-and-grog”, which became egg’n’grog and soon eggnog. Other experts say that the “nog” of eggnog comes from the word “noggin” which was a small, wooden, carved mug. It was used to serve drinks at table in taverns (while drinks beside the fire were served in tankards). The true story might be a mixture of the two and eggnog was originally called “egg and grog in a noggin”. This was a term that required shortening if ever there was one.

For our family, we enjoy “Christmas punch”. You take one half gallon of lime sherbert and you put it in a punch bowl with a 2 liter of ginger ale. Let the sherbert melt just a little. It is wonderful.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

As you eat the Christmas cookies, remember the time that Jesus gave bread to his disciples as recorded in Mark 14:22, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat: this is my body.” Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life…He will sustain us.

As you eat your Christmas ham, remember that Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice. Hebrews 7:27 He does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he sacrificed himself on the cross.

As you drink the eggnog, wassail, or the punch, remember that it is Jesus who will spice up the atmosphere and He is the only source of joy. Remember the verse in Luke 2:10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”