Ok - I have a son and a daughter, so I have been to my fair share of birthday parties! Pump It Up- mega inflatables in a gym, sleepovers, indoor rock climbing, X-box nights, Chuck-E-Cheese (thank you Lord we're past this age), swim parties, theater parties, a cottage "tea" (Jessica, not Drew), dive-in movies, yadda, yadda, yadda... But once a year I attend one of the weirdest birthday parties ever.
Imagine with me for a moment that you're going to a birthday party for a friend. You arrive for the party, maybe you acknowledge the guest of honor, maybe you don't, then YOU rip into THEIR gifts and then, for the rest of the party, you pretty much ignore them. Pretty weird huh? Actually, it's beyond weird, that would just be plain rude! Fast forward - It's Christmas. Who's birthday is it? Jesus. Sure, we may begin with a short prayer, or reading of the Christmas story, but then it's gifts time.....and whose gifts? Jesus'! And who opens them? WE do! And then the rest of the day is spent...... well, you get the point!
A few years back I began to become frustrated with how Jesus' birthday party was going. Now, before you write me off as a humbug guy, please note that I married into a family that LOVES Jesus, Loves Christmas, Loves Santa, etc... and so do I! I just felt like the over abundance of blessing was pulling our focus away from the reason for the season. And so, because I'm a guy, and by nature a "fixer", something had to give. So.....here are the top 3 things we have done as a family to help keep Jesus in focus at Christmastime:
1 - After Thanksgiving, we ask our son & our daughter to go thru their rooms and pick out games, toys, etc.... that they don't use much. If they're in good shape, we donate them to our local Christian Ministry. If they're in bad shape, the dumpster gets them. They're gonna be getting more things at Christmas and this allows them to learn to be givers....and it cuts down on accumulation! (By the way, dad & mom do the same)
2 - On Christmas we DO take time to read the Christmas Story together and to pray & thank God for Jesus and for all God's blessings.
3 - Then, because we we're getting so much stuff, a few years back we made a "$1 for $1" commitment. For every dollar we spend on Christmas gifts, we give a dollar to Jesus - after all it IS His birthday. So if I buy a $20 gift, another $20 gets put away for Jesus. This has done two great things for us. First, it has cut down on how much we spend, because it's always double. Second, it has allowed us to bless so many others with so much! On Christmas Eve, all that $ for Jesus is put in his stocking (yes, we hang a stocking for JESUS on our fireplace) and we open His up first - and it's usually between $500-$700!~ Then our family decides who Jesus wants us to bless with these funds: missionaries, financially hurting families, ministries, etc... It's always AWESOME and it's a favorite part of our Christmas!~
I hope these ideas will spur you and your family on as well in helping turn the Weirdest Birthday Party into a Par-Tay that's less weirder AND has eternal implications!~
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