It’s officially December first and the Christmas season is in full swing here in the Scott Household. I was super excited to open my advent tree today and pull out of the first of my candy cane kisses! I’ve also undertook some Christmas baking for my kiddos. This time of year I make Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies with Andes Mint Chips, but this year I got a little extra creative and added some mint M&Ms to my Andes Mint cookies. I shared my goodies with my girls last night and they were a hit. It’s great to have a cookie that acts as an after dinner mint! I love the color that the green, red and white M&Ms add to the cookies. Things just seem more festive when you can splash some holiday color in with the yummy holiday flavors.
The holiday schedule has a way of changing and getting added to… This year is no exception. Normally my class Christmas party for my 5th/6th grade girls is the second week of December. However, this year, our church has decided to go caroling to local nursing homes and the hospital that night. We’ll be canceling our children’s and adult classes that evening so the family can go together. I’m all for caroling to those who are in need of holiday cheer, but it put my Christmas party into a pickle. As strange as it sounds, I’ve moved my Christmas party to the first Wednesday in December. It’s a holiday tradition too wonderful to just cancel even if that means celebrating more than two weeks before Christmas.
Now the Christmas party night is always just about fun. We have a gift exchange where the girls bring a $3 or under wrapped gift. I bring extra gifts in case someone forgets. Normally I play along and walk away with some teeny-bopper flavor of lip gloss. It’s not glamorous, but I love playing right alongside my girls. We’ll do a fun Christmas craft and we’ll play some Christmas games. Of course it wouldn’t be a Christmas party without Christmas goodies which I’m excited to make next week. The celebration and fun fills the entire night.
Being down one Wednesday night made me adjust the schedule. I’m a planner so I know exactly what my girls are going to be doing in December when I start the new school year in September. I didn’t want to leave the Christmas party as the only emphasis on Christmas. So last night we did our lesson around the true story of Christmas. It’s amazing to find that most kids don’t know where the Christmas story is found in the Bible. Most think that the wise men showed up at the same time the shepherds did. Thanks to Nativity sets and “We Three Kings” they believe that there were three wise men. I love the Bible and I’m passionate that kids know God’s word. We jumped into the Christmas story starting in Matthew. We read about Joseph and the wise men. We flipped over to Luke and read about Mary’s response to the angel. We followed into the traditional Luke chapter two account of the birth of Jesus.
I love doing lessons like this because you can see the wheels in their brains turning! They have so many good questions! I love getting asked how we know the 25th was the day that Jesus was born. The first Christmas might not be accurately portrayed in Nativity scenes, Christmas carols or television programs, but we have the truth. We know the true story. It’s all in God’s word. It was a great night to remember why Jesus came and what it means for us. It’s perfect to close with the reminder that Jesus, who was God and knew the greatness of heaven, gave it all up to be born on earth and live among us. He did it so he could die for our sins on the cross and make a way for us to have eternal life and an eternal relationship with him. It blows my mind!
It’s important that is the midst of Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas baking and Christmas shopping that I remember the true reason for the season. There are a lot of great traditions and moments that come with this time of year, but it all would mean nothing if that special gift hadn’t been given that night of the very first Christmas!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 