Okay, so I've--
- decorated my car for Christmas
- decorated the house
- put up the tree
- taken a Christmas picture
- loaded lots of Christmas music on my iPod and bought a few new songs (some old--Tennessee Christmas by Amy Grant and some new--There's Still My Joy by Indigo Girls and Where's The Line to See Jesus)
- almost finished my shopping
- wrapped half the presents
- watched the kids perform in two holiday events
Still on my list...
- write the annual Christmas letter
- print the Christmas picture
- address and send out approximately 100 cards
- buy gifts for the kids
- make Christmas cookies
- make the annual photo ornament
- watch the kids perform in 5 more holiday events
...somewhere in the midst of all this I also want to remember that the whole reason we have Christmas is because of the gift of Jesus' birth. I also want my kids to remember this. There are so many ideas out there for fun, creative, unique ways to celebrate advent and to redirect the focus of the family towards God. But--most of them involve making something or adding something to an already busy, busy holiday schedule. After surfing the web some this morning I've decided that the best way to celebrate advent with my kids is to be present in my time with them. Instead of neglecting them to check off one more thing on my list--take an extra half hour to read Christmas stories to them, take the time for a devotional and Bible reading in the morning and remind them daily that their gift to Jesus can be in their actions. Doing something nice for each other, or a neighbor, choosing to be a friend to someone, just sharing God's love and joy that they have in their hearts. I don't need some new project or big event to turn our hearts to the real reason for the Christmas season--I just need to live it out loud.
