Christmas 2012, here's a look at what went down in the Reed home...
"Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of Earth
Born to give them second birth"
Hands down, my favorite lyrics in a Christmas song. What a privilege it is to worship and serve this King who did this for me.
Every year, like so many, I very much look forward to celebrating the Christmas season. I love that it's the time Believers recognize the birth of the Christ.
Over the last eight years that I've had children, I've tried very deliberately to incorporate traditions into our family that are Christ-centered, to as much as possible, focus our sights on Him. This is tough to do sometimes. Living in the country I live in. Living in the community I live in. But in my high calling as a mother, I feel it's my job. And I feel blessed for all the opportunities during the Advent season, to point my girls to the reason for not just this season, but every season.
Here are a few of my favorite traditions we celebrate:
Advent Calendar - this was a new one we added this year. Every new day, the girls read the card which tells them the event for that day. They loved this!
St. Nick's Day - We have a special family dinner and open our stockings. The official St. Nicks day is December 6. Depending our schedule, that may or may not be the day we celebrate it. But we do always celebrate it before Christmas day. It's a good way for us to share with the girls about the legend of the real Saint Nicholas from Turkey, and how he gave to the poor because of his love for Jesus.
Christmas Eve - A few years ago, we started letting the girls open a Christmas Eve gift, which is always jammies. Then we read the account of Christ's birth, written in Luke. This year, Maia and Robert took turns reading. Bring on the water works. Pure joy, getting to hear those words read from our daughter, who just two months earlier accepted the Christ she was reading about as her Savior.
Another really cool thing this year was that Robert led worship in our Christmas service at church. I know his heart and I know how genuine and deliberate he is with such a task - His main goal being that Christ is glorified. And I believe He was.
