Don’t Forget

            Shopping, decorating, cooking, cleaning; Christmas season at its finest. With Christmas just days away, it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. You’re busy making sure this Christmas is going to be the best one yet, but at what cost? Are you neglecting to remember the true meaning of Christmas? We’re celebrating the miraculous birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Our focus shouldn’t be on buying expensive presents for people and making sure our house is decorated better than our neighbors.  We should be praising God for the gift of His Son!

            Why not use this time as a season of spiritual growth? We are instructed to be constantly growing in our faith and knowledge daily, but I hope this time of year brings extra excitement of growing closer to our loving God. We have all read the passages of Christ’s birth, but why not use this time to sit down with your family and read them together? Discuss them and pray about them. Christmas was truly a miracle and we should be praising God for that!

Throughout the year we often neglect to spend enough time with our own families because we’re “too busy”. I also challenge you this Christmas to make this a holiday of family growth. Start a tradition of reading the Christmas story as a family (Luke 2:1-20 for example), decorate the tree together, make Christmas cookies and don’t worry about the mess you might be making. Pinterest has great ideas for family activities and fun crafts to make. For me, the Christmas memories I cherish the most are when we piled up in the car with hot chocolate and drove around looking at Christmas lights, or all the times my family sat around and just talked. I can’t remember the gifts I got that year, but I’ll always remember the good conversations and memories made with my family.

So this Christmas don’t forget the real reason we celebrate. Let’s praise God for the gift of Christ and our chance at new life through Him!

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is     

pleased.

Allie Todd, RDA, CDA
www.smileteam4u.com