Each year as Christmas starts to settle in I take a look at who and where we will be giving for the Christmas season. I love this time of year and I love giving... yet the joy in giving sometimes gets misled when we try to give without the heart of Jesus. Adding children to our little family has really made us look at how and what and when we give. We hope our children grow up with a true understanding of Christmas, yet we want them to find fun, tradition, and pure joy as they celebrate the holiday season through the eyes of a young child all the way into adulthood. Christmas can be just that... so much fun! It also is a great learning time in one's faith as they grow closer to Jesus. So, as we once again dive into the game of picking out gifts I of course tweak a bit each year... I've actually come to a halt the last couple years within our little family of four. A dear friend of mine gave me this wonderful idea and it has worked very well for us the last couple years. We will be doing it this year too! I hope it is one of our traditions that will stay for years to come...
3 gifts were brought to Jesus when he was born...gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is something precious, worth a lot. Frankincense was used in the temple. Myrrh covers the whole body. Thus, the idea of 3 Kings Gifts! Each year we buy 3 gifts for each other for Christmas. That's it. (how much do you really need anyways!?!?) Each person gets a gift that resembles gold (something they really want), frankincense (something to draw their heart to God or help them grow spiritually), and myrrh (something that covers the body, like clothing).
Our gift giving amongst our own family is simple, fun, and I think reasonable. Jaxon is getting old enough that he's starting to grasp the idea and hopefully Austin will be catching on to the idea soon too. I know there are many ways to celebrate Christmas and each family is different. This is working great for us for now! Speaking of many different ways... I'd love to hear other ways you celebrate Christmnas, a favorite tradition, or special things you do to make Christmas special at your house. We have a few other traditions at our house, but I love new ideas as we continue to make our holiday season special as we grow as a family! I'm looking forward to the holiday season!
1 comment:
That's a great tradition! Simple and non-materialistic!! We're starting to talk about what our new 'family' traditions will be also. Great to see you last night!
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