Making Christmas Meaningful

Today Lydia of Bless This Mess Organizing is joining us today here at 11 Magnolia Lane to share some ideas about keeping the real meaning in Christmas.

I know I struggle with this as much as anyone else, and I (along with my co-bloggers, Christy & Terry) have made a commitment to do better this year.

Hello Magnolia Lane Readers!

Are you looking for ways to keep Christ in Christmas? It can be hard these days to compete with all the cool electronics that are are on the top of so many kids’ wishlists. I think the true meaning of Christmas has been lost over the years but there are numerous ways to put the focus back on baby Jesus and less on the presents. Here are some ideas I wanted to share with you:

~ Have a basket for Christmas cards on your kitchen table.  In the evening during dinner, pick one of the cards and pray for that family.  Pray that their Christmas would be filled with blessings and thank God for their friendship.

~  Light a candle at the table and have each family member talk about how God has answered their prayers. Give Him all the glory!

~  Have a “Happy Memories” jar. Have everyone write one each day. Store it for next year and read them next Christmas.

~  Using construction paper, trace your child’s hand and make a gift tag out of them. Write “To:” and “From:” and other little messages such as “Merry Christmas”. Use red and green paper. I used contact paper to make them more durable. What better way to give a gift than with homemade love? And it only takes a few minutes!

~  Serve hot chocolate with a candy cane for stirring. Explain that the cane reminds us of the shepherds who first heard the news of baby Jesus. The white represents Jesus and purity; the red, His blood shed for us. Turn it upside down and it is a J for Jesus!

Thank you for allowing me to share with you today, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Lydia, thank you so much!  I love all those ideas, they will make wonderful traditions and memories for my children. This post is so appropriate as tomorrow we will launch our 24 Days of Giving series. We are hoping to start with small ways to magnify the spirit of the holidays, teach our children how much kindness matters and maybe make a small difference in someone’s day. Please join us tomorrow as we kick off this special series!

Thanks for stopping by!