MEDITATION:
Written by Marsha Wenskay from the Village Church.
When my children were young we were blessed to have doting Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Godparents. These beloved people showered our children with gifts for special occasions. Christmas was no exception. Like many blessings of abundance, there was a downside. We did not need to add excessive material gifts, yet, as parents, we wanted to have the joy of gifting our children. I was always open to trying to simplify the Christmas “Crazies” with young children.
We decided to embrace the holiday as a true celebration of the birth of Jesus. The Bible story of the Three Wise men led us to a perfect solution. Each child would receive three gifts from us. That included the obligatory new Pajamas for everyone to wear to bed on Christmas Eve. That took care of the gift situation. We also made sure to have each child pick from the Angel Tree and participate in gifting children from the church Christmas project. So, we covered both the giving and receiving from the Jesus perspective. Then on Christmas morning, their Father got out his saxophone (Just like he did for the children’s birthday) and we sang a rousing “Happy Birthday dear Jesus!” After the morning gift rush! All three participated in blowing out the candles on the simple birthday cake that we served with Christmas morning breakfast. We started this tradition when they were toddlers and now my youngest is 30, the middle is 37, and my oldest is 41. The tradition still stands. If I have time, I bake the cake. Some years, it came from Ralphs! Whatever worked to keep it Simple. Merry Christmas and HBD Jesus!
SCRIPTURE:
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
LINK TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC/VIDEO:
Pathways Press.com 