‘Tis the Season

Indeed, ‘tis the season. For some, ‘tis the time for fun with decorating, baking, shopping. For others, ‘tis the time for having rehearsals, learning new songs, and making costumes. And for still others, ‘tis the season for sending cards, visiting old friends, opening their homes.

And midst all those activities, ‘tis the season of our Savior’s birth.

In our children’s childhoods, we did all those things listed above. From the traditions of our ladies-only shopping day to the all-day craziness of baking a hundred dozen (plus!) cookies with all the cousins to late-night dress rehearsals, ‘twas the season of chaos! And fun, have to admit.

Yet, during our busiest times, I found ways to reflect on the birth of Jesus and what it means to all who take a peek at the manger and see a Messiah.

‘Tis the Season for Children

During the years of raising our daughters, I knew many ways to bring them joy during the holidays. Gifts, of course, visits to friends, sugary treats, and more would put smiles on their faces. But at Christmas, I wanted to go deeper. I longed to prepare them for their own relationships with Jesus and in His salvation.

Hence came my own version of Advent celebrations. With a busy homeschool household, including making most of our Christmas gifts, the traditional four Sundays of the Advent season didn’t always mesh with our schedule. I simply chose four days, roughly a week apart, which fit for Mom, Dad, and the kids as our Advent days.

Different themes set the focus of the activities. For each of the four days, I chose a short story from Christmas anthologies to reflect that year’s theme. After reading the story, we sometimes did a simple craft project, such as the year we created origami nativity figures.

Next, we each drew a tiny present from a basket—wrapped pieces of a small ceramic nativity set or wrapped mini ornaments for the tiny tree on the table. Each piece held a numbered slip of paper with a special task for that person to do. For example, if the theme of the year was giving, the tasks may have been to describe a favorite gift given and why it was a favorite or the same for a gift received. The final two were always the same: choose a carol to sing and end the special time in prayer.

Of course, then came the best part in the kids’ estimation—cocoa and snack time! Each year held something special to remember it by. One year, one daughter (no names) landed in the dog’s water dish after laughing so hard she fell off her chair. Another year, paper snowflakes filled our window, one cut with a spider-web design, another with Star Wars! (Yes, our daughters were highly creative)

‘Tis the Season for Greetings

“Merry Christmas!”  “Season’s Greetings!”  “A Joyous Noel!”  “Happy Holidays!”

I wonder how many cards have been sent and received bearing these holiday greetings? How many millions of dollars have been spent on stamps and the cards themselves? Then of course, there’s the invaluable cost of the time it takes to perform this task in the midst of the busiest time of the year.

I love sending cards all year long, not just for holidays. I wonder if people still sit down with boxes of cards picturing nostalgic Christmas scenes and containing rhymed verses of holiday cheer, sorting them into piles to send to family or friends, addressing envelopes by hand, and enclosing a recent family photo for those far away to “see how much the kids have grown.”

“But it takes so long!”  “Have you seen the size of my Christmas card list?”

Let’s look back at the first Christmas greetings given on a night long ago to a small band of shepherds on a hillside. The Bible says in Luke, chapter 2, that the shepherds, upon receiving these wondrous greetings, said, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And so, saying, they went to town and saw the Baby Jesus.

Maybe one of the cards I send this year will urge its readers to take a second look at the nativity scene gathering dust on their mantel. Or to dig out the family Bible (or a Bible app on their phone) to look up the Scripture verse noted in the card. Maybe one of them will find what his or her heart has been longing for this year.

‘Tis the Season for Stories

Where would the world be without stories? Of course, as a writer and an avid reader, my answer would ring out. And my favorite stories of all herald from the Christmas season.

At the beginning of December, we unloaded several shelves on one bookshelf and filled them with Christmas books. We have over a hundred different Christmas books, from Little Golden Books to children’s chapter books to adult selections. We even found a few Christmas comic books.

Have we read them all? No, but that makes the holidays more special, finding new favorites to add to our memories. And after Christmas day has come, one of my greatest joys is to sit near enough to the tree to read a book by its lights.

Our family members each have a favorite story that we reread every year, and we never grow tired of hearing it. Sometimes, one line stands out in our memory, and it draws us again to that particular book. Two of my favorite lines are not found in traditional print books, but in scripts written by two of our daughters. These words give special meaning to the season – both the message of Jesus’s sacrificial birth and the message of the joy to be had through the eyes of a child.

The first simple script admonished the actor who took out his frustration by knocking down a nativity scene on stage and encouraged him to “look past the baby in the manger and see the gift of the man on the cross.” May we all consider this when we gaze on each nativity we see this year.

And the second play, written by a four-year-old, included two pages of staging and dialogue. As the story unfolded, we saw Joseph, Mary, the innkeeper—all the necessary characters. The long journey, the inn, the stable—settings worthy of a simple set design. The plot thickened as Joseph and Mary were turned away at the inn and told to stay in the stable. The narrator said, “Then it was time to go to sleep. In the morning, Mary woke up.”

The actress portraying Mary’s character did a double-take at the dialogue, but smiled and said, “Look, Joseph! A baby!” It was a laugh-out-loud moment to be sure.

Ah, who doesn’t love a good Christmas story that points to the true reason for the season—“A baby!”

‘Tis the season …

‘Tis the season to open our hearts, minds, and spirits to all God has for us, whether it comes through the children we come across, the greetings we give and receive, or the stories we share around the table or while snuggled on a couch. May your season contain as much joy and faith as your hearts can hold.