how much I love Christmas; this book is really wonderful if you've got littles, especially, and don't want to walk down that too-commercial path it's so easy to take.Enjoy reading about her family, and the reason she wrote the book - and check out the giveaway at the end!
Around this same time a couple years
ago, our boys were sitting in the living room floor creating their
Christmas lists to send to Santa. The lists consisted mostly of cut
out pictures from the Toys-r-Us catalog pasted sloppily with glue
sticks on poster paper. They jumped up and down with excitement with
every page turn as they found a new must-have toy. In all the fun of
that day, I noticed that our oldest boy had only 3 things listed on
his paper. An IPad, a phone like mommy’s, and crutches.
Crutches?
Yep, that’s right. Those were his
must-haves of that Christmas.
As Christmas morning rolled around, the
boys ran downstairs with all the excitement that kids should have on
Christmas day. They ripped open packages and slung presents around,
eagerly ready to move to the next item.
The younger two boys seemed quite
content with their loot for the day. But the oldest sat on the floor
with his arms crossed and a sour look on his face. In his lap set a
box for a brand new iPad mini still in the wrapper.
Let me just pause right here. I do not
even have an iPad. Just sayin’.
When asked what was wrong, he proceeded
to through a fit about how he didn’t get a phone like mommy’s or
any crutches. He was furious!
I could not believe how ungrateful he
was being. Didn’t he realize how awesome the gifts he had received
were? How did we get to the point of demanding what we should receive
and then being mad if we didn’t get it exactly as expected? Didn’t
he understand he couldn’t have everything? Didn’t he know that
Christmas is about more than receiving everything on your wish list?
As I sat there in the floor with my
wonderful little boys, I instantly felt like a failure.
Clearly I had missed the mark in
explaining to him what Christmas is all about. Why else would he act
so ungrateful?
Now before you say it, I know . . . he
is 5 years old. And kids are kids. I get that. But it just didn’t
sit right in my soul. We had talked about the reason we celebrate
Christmas. We read the Bible stories. We went to the Christmas play
at church. We even gave gifts from the angel trees and donated spare
change to the guy outside Walmart. We had talked about this.
I wanted my children to understand at
their very core, that Christmas simply wasn’t about them. It was
about Jesus. I wanted them to realize that our gifts should be a
reflection of the gifts God gave to us in His Son Jesus. I wanted
them to have the fun and excitement that Santa, and the Elf on the
Shelf, and Christmas parties at school bring – but they needed to
know in their hearts that all of it was because of the birth of our
King. Even though they knew these things in their heads, I don’t
think they really felt it in their innermost being. And that really
bothered me.
The following year was a big year for
us as we decided to homeschool, made another move, and various other
life changes. One scripture passage remained in my mind throughout
that time.
Deuteronomy 6: 5-9 5 Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These
commandments that I give you today are to be on your
hearts. 7 Impress
them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when
you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie
them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your
foreheads. 9 Write
them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
As the holiday season approached I knew
we needed to do something different this year. We needed something
that would create an impression of the hearts of our boys and our
family. It needed to be in our home, on our doorframes and at our
gates. It needed to be intentional and purposeful.
A Gospel Christmas, is our journey through the month of December 2015. We found a way to connect Santa and his naughty little elf to our greatest gift of all. It is personal and transparent. It is messy at times and most importantly it is real. It is our story of how God lead us to Himself and made a huge impression not just on the hearts of our children, but on my heart as well. Through the 25 days in December we walked through the life of Jesus in a very practical, easy, and kid friendly way. We read scripture together, we did crafts, we talked, we gave to others, we cried, and we laughed. It was the most beautiful thing to see the gospel of Jesus come alive in our children’s’ hearts. To see their eyes light up with excitement and their minds begin to understand who Jesus is to them is something that a parent couldn’t be more proud of.
As the Christmas season is approaching
us quicker than we all can handle, I would like to challenge you to
pray over how your family will celebrate the birth of our King this
year. Do your children truly understand what this season is about? Is
your family focused on Jesus this year, or distracted by parties, the
latest gadgets, and hosting friends? Are you searching for a way to
connect all the fun of the holiday with the true meaning of
Christmas?
A
Gospel Christmas is available in digital copy
and paperback just about everywhere! It can be ordered online or
ordered through your local bookstore. Bulk orders are available for
churches or other organizations as well. I would be truly honored for
you to share this book and post with those you love. What better gift
to give at Christmas than one that could lead someone to Jesus? You
never know who’s life can be touched by a simple share.
BONUS!!! Just
because you guys are awesome and you are supporting my friend by
reading her awesome blog I want to give you a chance to win a signed
copy of A
Gospel Christmas for
FREE! Enter our giveaway below and you will be in the running for one
of several prizes that will be picked to celebrate the launch of this
great book!
A Gospel Christmas Giveaway
Or go to
https://gleam.io/eZjGx/a-gospel-christmas-giveaway
to enter.
Jennifer is wife to an Airman and mom
to three rambunctious little boys. With excitement on a daily basis
and grace around every corner, she believes we are meant to live this
life in community with others and with the mercy to mess up and try
again….and again. Being a mom is hard, but it is also a divine
calling we can have in this life. Her ministry to women is relevant
and heartfelt with her core passion being that we learn to glorify
our God in our parenting, our marriage, and in our everyday lives.
Join Jennifer’s
community online at:
Jennifer's family lost her grandfather yesterday (11/8/16).
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