Spirit of Christmas Present and Past

The spirit of Christmas present and past can impact our holiday to make it extra special. This post encourages you to do just three things help you know your children better:

1) Ask your child to describe their favorite Christmas memory.

2) Reflect on their responses. What is important to your children? What will you do differently next year; and what will you do the same?

I want you to consider these thoughts because your children will go from this:

To this….in the twinkle of an eye.

Catherine Rhodes Photography

Live your life intentionally so that you create the memories you want your children to have; and so you can teach them the life lessons that you want them to learn.

Presently at our house, 2011 is a special Christmas for us because we are no longer an all girl plus a dad family. We now have our son-in-law Adam, who is a wonderful addition to our family.

Christmas Eve 2009 was most memorable. Bethany traveled to Oklahoma City to visit Adam’s family, and she literally drove into Oklahoma’s Blizzard of the Century. She spent the entire afternoon creeping along the interstate between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The visibility was so poor she could not read the road signs and the roads were drifting terribly; it was treacherous. The highway patrol closed the interstate and all vehicles had to exit. She spent Christmas Eve at a Flying J Truckstop just 35 minutes from her destination. I spent the night on the couch with my cell phone, calling her every hour; and Adam did the same from Oklahoma. She arrived safely Christmas morning. Our family was thankful, not because of gifts or food, but because our precious girl was safe.

Early Christmases were exciting because our girls were fun and adorable. When I asked them their favorite childhood Christmas memory, they said it was hiding in the hallway trying to catch Santa filling the stockings. I didn’t even know they did that! At an older age, they were assigned the task of doing laundry to get ready for the holiday, but they procrastinated. I told them, “No opening presents until the laundry is done!” (Did I say that?!) One of their favorite memories is using their hair dryer to help dry their clothes faster. Go figure. (Girls~ you need to comment so I’m not dubbed a complete and total Grinch!)

This illustrates the need to be intentional about the memories you are creating with your children. My girls could have easily filed this memory under “my mom is a holiday tyrant” instead of “this is a fun memory”. What do you want your conversations to be about when your kids are in their twenties?

As a girl, I often spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve with my dear and lovely elderly friend, Sylvia. Her family lived away, so it became our tradition to spend the afternoon together. She would open her gifts that her family had sent her; and I would open her gift to me. What a cozy and loved memory this is. I don’t remember a single gift, but I remember her warmth and kindness; and the delightful time that we had together.

Sylvia is the little lady in the middle:

Christmas is about love, kindness, and sharing with one another. It is about God’s love for us as we celebrate his gift to us: Jesus

Charles Schulz, author of “Peanuts”, described the meaning of Christmas through his adorable character Linus in the classic show “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.