What does that mean to me? Lots of things - maybe too many to talk about.
Christmas means work. It takes a lot of work to prepare for this holiday. It is like no other. I dread getting the Christmas boxes out of the attic. We have a miniature snow village we like to put up - it has 20+ separate pieces and takes up half a room to display. We have six or so different nativity scenes. We make the effort because the kids like it. I am thankful we have never put up exterior lights. We do try to make Christmas cookies each year for cookie exchange. It does seem that Christmas cookies are always the most difficult to make. We make the dough, roll and cut out shapes, and hand decorate each cookie. Maximum effort per cookie! No wonder Christmastime is so hectic!
Christmas also means the dreaded Christmas letter. I must admit that the Christmas letter is not only for helping friends keep up with one another - it is also to help us chronicle our lives. It is really nice to be able to look back at a Christmas letter from 20 years ago and refresh our memories of what was going on back then.
Christmas means shopping. We have four kids - all who love the idea of gift exchange. At one point they were all about getting presents. Now they get quite excited about going shopping themselves to get presents for each family member. Each child wants to go shopping with mom or dad individually, in order to keep the secrecy. Finding time for four additional major shopping trips is difficult.
Christmas is about family. Most everything we do during this season is for family. I must admit that communication between my brother and sisters peaks around this time of year. Most years we have family join us for Christmas, which is always welcome.
Christmas is about memories. Putting up our tree is a walk down memory lane. Long ago we decided to add a Christmas tradition to get a new tree ornament each year that would remind us of something that happened that year. Now, we have a large number of ornaments that remind us of specific events throughout our lives. Our goal is to reflect on each ornament as we put them up. Our practice is to rush through them without much thought.
Amid all of this, Christmas is about God's love. Christ humbled himself and came as a baby in order to save us. It's so easy to overlook or take this for granted. We try to be intentional in efforts to focus on Christ. Cookies, presents, trees, have nothing to do with Christ. We do try to infuse Christ into the other areas with Christian ornaments, or spiritual presents. They do help, but they aren't intentional enough. I purpose each year for my family to try to intentionally direct focus on Christ at Christmas. I purpose not to do it through any family traditions, but it different, new and fresh ways each year. I pray for inspiration.
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