A Christ Centered Christmas

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This time of year we tend to get caught up in the rush and craziness that comes with purchasing presents, attending Christmas get togethers and school concerts or performances. All of these festive activities and pursuits of our time are wonderful and bring happiness to ourselves and others. In doing so we can often forget the reason for the season and the importance of having a Christ centred Christmas, if that is what your faith and tradition involves.

This year I am personally trying to put Christ back into Christmas a little more in our home. I am not one to force religion or my faith on others but I do love to share some of the faith filled activities we participate in as a family on my blog. After chatting to some Seven Cherubs fans on facebook we collected some ideas to help you keep a Christ centred Christmas in your homes. Some of these tips and suggestions could apply regardless of whether you are religious or not. They are about putting others first and of serving and uplifting families during this special time of year. 

Here are the suggestions below:

Jac - When I was younger Dad would read the Christmas story before we were allowed to open presents. I have also heard that some families choose a present to give to the less fortunate out of the presents they get on Christmas Day.

Amanda - Help the kids make Jesus a birthday present. Just decorate a shoe box and every time they do something that would make Jesus happy they write it down and put it in a box. Then on Christmas morning your read out all of Jesus's presents.

Pippi - We make a cake for Jesus and sing Happy Birthday. This year they are doing a 4-layer carrot cake.

Elizabeth - Make sure you always say Christmas not Xmas.

Rachael - We read The White Stocking poem and the idea is to get a white stocking and to fill it with pieces of paper as gifts to the Saviour that you will work on during the next year.

Kylie: Read the Christmas Story from the Bible and picture book variations up until Christmas. We never use or say Xmas instead of Christmas. We have an advent calendar where each day we have to do something eg. sing a Christmas carol, help someone etc. Acts of service and also read scriptures of Christ's life. Go see the Temple Christmas lights and program they have in Sydney. Display a nativity scene prominently in our home. I have one client who puts up the nativity first and then a week later the rest of the decorations. The nativity is the first one you see when you enter the house.

Gayelene - We do a grocery hamper for an anonymous family. I make the kids come with me to the grocery store to select things for the family that also includes a small gift for each person in that family. I love how considerate and thoughtful my kids have become over the years we have been doing this. We all then deliver it to the local charity that distributes it.

Gabby - We have a fisher price nativity scene, it's the little people's range & very cute. It reminds us & our 4 year old what its all about in a lovely way :)

Veronica - First time I'm making the effort since bub's are big enough - putting out a nativity set and reading kid's version of the Christmas story, talking about St Nicholas and giving as the connection to Santa Claus, getting a gift or two for charity. I'm still making it up as I go along but these are some thoughts.

Mandy -  We're really lucky, our local church role play the first christmas every night the week before Christmas. It is a tradition for us to go down and watch it. They spend the week before building the set, a lot of effort goes into it. Lovely local people putting in a lot of effort to get their message across. I just love that my kids get to know that Christmas is not just about presents.

Diana - I have 24 Christmas stories that I absolutely love. I read one per night to my children in the lead-up to Christmas. You can find them here. Tissues may be needed.

Marie - My girls when they were younger loved doing the Christmas tree gift tags at K Mart and Target. I still do that. We also love attending the Christmas carols by candlelight locally.

Emma - My son's class had a Posada where we each welcomed little Mary & Joseph figures (and their donkey) into our homes for a night on their journey. We lit a candle and read a Christmas story. Each night a different student takes them home. I know it made my children think more about the real meaning of Christmas.

In our family we love to watch these Life of Christ Bible video's together as a family.

I love all of these suggestions and we do many of them in our family as well. 

What do you do as a family to keep a Christ centred Christmas??