some practical Christmas suggestions

I am a part of a lot of conversations that deal with the idea that we must make Christmas less commercialized and more about Christ.

This is true.

As the old cliche goes, "Jesus is the reason for the season."

But how can we make that practical for our lives?

Some suggestions:

Read the Christmas story as a family either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Watch "It's a wonderful life" as a family. What a great flick. It's conclusion shows the true meaning of Christmas. I've watched it so many times I can almost quote the lines from memory.

Make some of your Christmas gifts. Nothing says, "I love you" more than a gift that is personally made.

Read aloud a Christmas book or story each day. Depending on the ages of your children, you could choose pictures books or short stories about Christmas. Every December 23 bring out a new book or story for that year and read it for the first time.

Children love to “camp out” so consider sleeping in sleeping bags in front of the Christmas tree one night. Munch on snacks, leave the lights on all night, and make a special memory!

Keep a simple Christmas scrapbook. Each year add a page or two with details about how you celebrated as a family, favorites gifts given and received, and people who shared the holiday with you. Add a few pictures, scraps of wrapping paper, and a sample of the Christmas card and letter you sent out that year.

Give your children the opportunity to act out the Christmas story from the Bible. Read it through several times beforehand, discussing the most important aspects. Then allow your children to plan and present a play for family and friends.

Invite members of your family, people from church, or neighborhood families to a potluck carol sing. Prepare copies of favorite carols, and set a loose schedule so that you have time to sing all the songs distributed. As an alternative, consider caroling at a hospital, nursing home, or around the neighborhood. Then return to your home for dessert and hot chocolate.

When setting your Christmas dinner table, set a literal place (chair, plate, glass, and silverware) for Jesus as an honored member of your family. Place a golden paper crown on the place setting for Christ.

Attend our Christmas Eve service as a family to seal the reverence of the celebration of Christ's birth as a valued family tradition.

But most of all, give.

We all have various Christmas traditions. Few of us probably have a tradition quite like the Robynson family's.

In his book "Crazy Love", Francis Chan shares their story:

"This family of five, with three kids under the age of ten, chooses to celebrate the birth of Christ in a unique way. On Christmas mornings, instead of focusing on the presents under the tree, they make pancakes, brew an urn of coffee, and head downtown.

Once there, they load the coffee and food into the back of a red wagon. Then, with the eager help of their three-year-old, they pull the wagon around the mostly empty streets in search of homeless folks to offer a warm and filling breakfast on Christmas morning.

All three of the Robynson kids look forward to this time of giving a little bit of tangible love to people who otherwise would have been cold and probably without breakfast. Can you think of a better way to start the holiday that celebrates the God who is Love?"

Wow....may we all be filled with the spirit of Christ - giving. "For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only son...." John 3:16.