The Christmas Devotional is such a simple way to remember Christ during the Christmas Season. A tradition that takes little planning, no running to and fro, and no gifts to be purchased.
I also thought I'd share two Christmas Traditions that our little family started this year. So I guess they are not techniquely traditions yet but I hope to continue them each year and turn them into traditions.
First, we put up this little tree next to our bigger tree. It was my husband and I's very first Christmas tree. Now it is our Service and Kindness tree. When I catch my children serving or being kind I let them pick out an ornament to add to the tree. Sometimes I send my 4 year old to preschool with service in mind and he'll come back and tell me something nice he did. It was been good. It's also nice to have a tree that is free for them to touch and move ornaments around on. :)
Then Secondly, we tweaked this idea from the Friend. We have this nativity picture hanging on the wall in our living room and each morning we are adding a star to the wall. We write something about Jesus on the star and tape it to the wall. By Christmas we should have one starry night. My son is already excited about putting the biggest star above the picture on Christmas Eve.
Our 4 year old (soon to be 5) has come up with things like:
Jesus helped people to see.
Jesus was crucified for us.
Jesus was born in a stable.
Jesus helped raise people from the dead.
And our 2 year old has said things like this (with a little help sometimes :):
Jesus hugs me.
Jesus loves me.
Jesus made animals.
Jesus holds me.
It has been a great way to keep us thinking about Christ every day this December. What are some Christ-Centered traditions that your family has?
2 comments:
okay, ours probably isn't all that original, since it seems like every time i think i've thought of something all on my own, soon after i find someone else (usually online) was blessed with the same idea. :) but here-goes.
several years ago we purchased a couple packs of greg olson print cards. every card is one of his many portraits of Christ. for FHE that year, we searched through the scriptures with our then-9-year-old-daughter for our favorite scriptures of Christ & his life. i then printed them out in red & green, and then adhered them to the back of the cards with looped ribbon between layers. for a few years these were the main ornaments we had hanging on our tree, with only angels & stars as the other ornaments. it's been nice to be able to focus on what's most important.
this year however, we're trying something new and tying these same ornaments of the Savior in as an advent. with each new day in december, another of these ornaments is taken out, its scripture is read as a family, and then it finds its place on the tree. so far its AWESOME! why more now than before? because now, each scripture is actually read and thoughtfully pondered, which has allowed our own testimonies of Jesus Christ grow that much stronger. we hope to continue this as a tradition from now on. :)
What great (and simple) ideas!
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