Christmas

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Amateur Hour Pageants

Our church just announced this year’s Christmas Eve “Experience.” It will truly be an event, with an official title (for promotional purposes, I assume), a huge cast, handcrafted costumes, well-built scenery, lights, carols—even ice skating!—plus a reenactment of the nativity and a candlelight service. Thousands of people will come to each of the three performances, and I’m sure they’ll be impressed.

The church we attended when our kids were young was much smaller—350 people instead of 10,000. There was no way we were going to compete with the huge productions of much larger churches. Instead, our Christmas program was pretty much the complete opposite.

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Gingerbread Persons

Making and decorating cookies is one of our family’s Christmas traditions. I don’t make as many kinds as I used to, since the last thing I need is more tempting desserts hanging around the house, but when I tried skipping the cookies altogether, we all felt that part of Christmas was missing.

With our kids grown, we’ve evolved a new tradition. I make the cookies—either rolled butter cookies or gingerbread men—and then we all get together to decorate them. (See the bottom of the page for my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe.)  At the end of the day, the cookies go home with the artists.

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Celebrating Jesus

“We know how to celebrate Christmas. We’ve got that down to a science.  We just haven’t figured out how to celebrate Jesus.”

This quote is from Matt, who blogs at TheChurchOfNoPeople.com. While his posts are always thought-provoking and entertaining (yes, he manages to accomplish both!), this statement really got me thinking.

It’s true. Our culture is so bound up in Christmas that we miss Jesus. Even in the church, we sometimes focus on the Christmas program, the poinsettias for the platform, the gifts for missionaries, the songs, the turkeys for the poorer part of town, the lights, and all the other holiday accessories, that we just don’t have time for the birthday boy. Have we even invited Him to the party?

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Christmas Shopping Suggestions

Thanksgiving is over. While some of us have jumped the gun and started decorating for Christmas, Black Friday acts as the starting gun for the full-fledged marathon. We now have permission to hum “All I Want for Christmas” and other spiritual carols, erect plastic snowmen in our yards, and go shopping!

In general, I do not like to shop, especially for myself. I consider it a chore, not a recreational activity. But with our family’s birthday season in full swing and Christmas only a month away, I’ve been going outside my comfort zone—actually visiting stores and looking through catalogs. I have to admit, shopping for others can be pretty rewarding.

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Merry Christmas

Over the years, our family has celebrated Christmas in lots of different ways. Sometimes we have lots of relatives. Sometimes it is just our small family—now even smaller with our daughters married, with homes and celebrations of their own. One year we had the flu, and quarantined ourselves. We usually attend a church service, with candles, carols, and a moment to stop and reflect. Every year has included joy and frazzled nerves, chaos and peace.

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But no matter how we spend Christmas this year, it’s still Good News:

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11

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Swedish Meatballs

Considering that no one in our immediate family was Swedish (at least as far as we know), it’s a little strange that Swedish meatballs became the centerpiece for our yearly Christmas dinner. It just goes to show that anything can become a tradition if you let it.

My family discovered Swedish meatballs in 1964. We were traveling by train from Los Angeles to New York City. Both my parents had been raised on Long Island, and they wanted their California daughter to see where they had grown up. The New York World’s Fair provided an excellent excuse for a vacation. It takes three days to travel diagonally across the country—plenty of time to chat with the other passengers. My mom happened to be sitting next to a very nice lady who gave her this recipe.

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What to get the Person who has everything

Are you a last minute shopper? Judging from the crowds in the stores and the never-ending ads on TV and radio, you have plenty of company. Usually, I’ve almost finished my Christmas shopping by now—at least for the “easy” people on my list. But it’s the proverbial problem—what do you get for the person who has everything?

It’s astounding that we can even ask that question, really. After all, how many people in the history of the world literally have everything they need and most of what they want? And how can I, with my strictly budgeted gift fund, possibly get them whatever they might lack?

The real eye-opener came earlier this year when, at my family’s request, I tried to make my own wish list for Christmas and my December birthday. It was hard. Aside from a few minor wants (certainly not needs!), I couldn’t think of anything. I finally wrote down a couple of CDs I would enjoy, some books I’d like to read, and a list of ways I’d like to spend time with each person. Then, at the top of my list, I wrote “chickens.”

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“Dear Friends and Family…”

So, have you sent your Christmas cards yet?

Did you feel a little pang of guilt there? Did your holiday stress just go up a level? Yeah, mine too. The whole Christmas card production can take several entire days at our house… and it comes right at the busiest time of the year.

Sometimes I think the folks who mail their cards in January (or swap them for Valentines in February) have the right idea. Why do we do this to ourselves?

On the other hand, what says “Christmas” more than connecting with one another? If there’s any time of the year that relationships should trump our to-do lists, shouldn’t it be the season in which we celebrate Jesus coming to have a relationship with us?

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[Advent Conspiracy]

There are 22 more days until Christmas, and most of us are juggling to-do lists, shopping lists, budgets, and calendars, trying to fit it all in. How did this become the norm for advent? Somehow, somewhere, we’ve gone horribly wrong.

Enter the  [Advent Conspiracy] (yes, the cute little brackets are part of the name). While most of us acknowledge the problems of a commercialized, frenzied, over-committed, hollow shell of a holiday that has lost its heart, they have a cure. Click on their logo to watch their short video. At the very least, you will be inspired, and this might even change the way you do Christmas!

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Make a Christmas Tree Dimmer Switch

med bright tree 5596-2After years of debate, dead needles, and adamant kids (“It has to be real or it’s not Christmas!”), we finally broke down and bought an artificial tree. The cost of a fresh fir has gotten out of hand (and they sure didn’t last very long in our dry climate), plus our kids and their husbands had their own places, and could make their own fake-or-fresh decisions.

We looked long and hard to find a tree that looked as real as possible, and I’m happy to say that it fools many people. Even better, it came with the lights already integrated into the branches. No more tangled strings of lights, with all the reds in a clump and whole sections of tree dark. No sirree, things would be easy now. Continue reading →