Back in 1986, I had my first baby, a little girl named Katie-Beth. I started an ornament collection for her that first Christmas. I made one little stuffed Christmas bear for her and one for our tree. Thus, began our annual ornament tradition. Each year I make one ornament for the tree and one for each of the children. That way when they take their ornament collection to their new homes, they will have ornaments that are exactly like the ornaments they grew up with. Sewing, rubber stamping, embossing, cross-stitch, painting, and more crafting methods were used to create keepsake treasures. The ornaments tend to reflect whatever hobby I was into that year. Mom and I made quilted ornaments one fall when she and Daddy visited. They were so time-consuming to make, but we enjoyed chatting and catching up on all the family news as we worked. One year, we went and chopped down our own Christmas tree. What fun! We slice off some thin round pieces of wood from the bottom of the tree and engraved the date. Looking at that ornament brings back fond memories of that special day.
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When my kids were little, I made them Scripture Memory Books out of magnetic photo albums. I wrote verses on colored card-stock and cut out magazine photos to match each verse. It had an amazing impact on my life. As I worked on the Scripture books, my mind was saturated with the Word of God in a positive way. Years later, i had my teens create Scripture books as assignments in various Real Men and God's Girls courses where they learned about marriage, homemaking, leadership, and growing in Christ. Now I am a grandmother and I wantto carry on the tradition so I created Scripture Memory books in Word, took them to the printer, and created nice coil-bound books. The children love them! I make sure to use lots of photos of the child I am giving the book to in throughout the pages. Children love to see photos of themselves. "We give all the children pajamas Christmas Eve so that they can have brand new p.j.s for Christmas morning. And the pictures look so cute!" my friend explained. I wasn't sure about the pajama thing, but I liked the idea of nice pictures from Christmas morning. What if we all wore Christmas T-shirts or sweatshirts? That was back when my oldest daughters were two and four years old. My mother bought them adorable little bear sweatshirts and they wore them Christmas morning while Mike and I wore our own Christmas sweatshirts. More than cute photos, I loved the splash of Christmas color they added to Christmas morning. I started collecting Christmas T-shirts and storing them in a suitcase that only came out in December. It all started with putting a bright red towel under a punch bowl to catch the spills. The lush Christmasy red towel made the punch bowl shimmer shades of red. And the table was protected! Then, of course there was the towel sale at Kohl's. In my house, I have lots of old furniture--hand-me-downs from grandparents. These beautiful wooden end tables and dressers are easily marked up, so I keep them covered with linens (another hand-me-down from my grandparents). This Christmas, I decided to replace some of these tabletop linens with towels to add a splash of color. I liked the bright splash of Christmas color underneath my various Christmas decorations. And the great thing? These Christmas decorations can be tossed right into the washer to be fresh and clean again. Another thing I do with towels at Christmas is to put them under the coffee pot and the tea things in my kitchen. I love the cheery brightness the red towel brings under the tea things. If you are looking for an easy way to add a splash of color; consider red and green towels. It's a quick, easy, and fun way to decorate. Merry Christmas! Meredith Curtis We have resources to add fun to your Christmas: FREE Curtis Family Christmas Devotions Celebrate Christmas with a Traveling Dinner Celebrate Christmas with Cookies Celebrate Christmas with Cookies Unit Study Celebrate Christmas in Colonial America Unit Study Celebrate Christmas in Germany Unit Study This is an essay my daughter wrote years ago when she was in high school for her God's Girls 106: Hospitality, Friendship, and Celebrations class. I thought it was awesome and share it with you.... Christmas is a holiday all about....well, about the Christ child who gave it its name, right? While the secular world, in the midst of singing carols that explicitly remind them, may forget the origin of this holiday, as Christians, we believe Christmas is all about Jesus’ birth. Believing this, and in the beauty of the “magic of Christmas,” many Christian parents seek ways to make this Christ-holiday (or holy day) a special time for their children. They want their children to hold beautiful, sparkling memories of Christmas as a little kid, to be able to look back and remember how loved they were and how “magical” and special Mom and Dad made Christmas. So, as good moms and dads, Christian parents draw from the well of Christmas memories from their childhood and begin to create those same memories with their children. There is something so special about family traditions passed down from one generation to the next. We remember the spicy pine smell of Christmas trees, the plates of Christmas cookies, the excitement of waiting for Santa Claus, and we want our children to share those joys. So, we bring home a Christmas tree, we bake cookies for hours in the kitchen, and we carefully foster our children’s faith in Santa Claus. However, as we nurture beautiful memories for our children, we come across a question in Christian circles: Is it wrong to teach children about Santa Claus? My home is filled with grown children now. My oldest daughter is married and we have two grandsons. One of our favorite Christmas traditions remains our beloved Christmas Family Devotions. We start at the story of the Angel Appearing to Zachariah and move through the entire Christmas story. It is a delight every year to remember this precious story of miracles and love, to celebrate the Birthday that divided history in two. The Christmas story never grows old. However, these devotions are old. I typed them up on an electric typewriter when the children were small. A few years later, we got our first computer and I printed them on our dot matrix printer. Years flew by. I sent them to Office Depot to print several copies because all the children could read. Soon, I was sharing these simple devotions with others. When the children were little I made a Christmas Tree out of felt and nailed it to a big bulletin board each December. After devotions, the children would put little ornaments on the tree. We discovered the Christmas Shoebox Tradition when Samaritan's Purse started Operation Christmas Child. The ministry asked people to fill shoeboxes for needy children around the world. My children and I gathered up small toys, toothbrushes, and candy to give to one child. We chose "boy or girl?" and age range. The shoebox tradition was a great way to involve my children in giving to others while getting to do something they enjoyed: shopping for toys! As the children grew older, I found myself filling the shoebox alone because my children found other ways to give and serve at Christmas. This year, I decided to fill the Shoebox with my grandson Rusty who is two years old. We went to the Dollar Store together and filled the cart with small toys. We collected toy dinosaurs, balls, stickers, jungle animals, an etch-a-sketch, and a slinky. Now, of course, Rusty came home with some of his own toys, but we had the joy of shopping for others together. I hope it's a new tradition we will continue. 500 years ago on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Whittenberg Door. He was protesting some of the things church leaders were doing in his day like selling forgiveness and elevating human traditions above the Word of God. You see, Martin Luther tried desperately to do enough to be right with God. He struggled with guilt and agonized over his standing before God. One day, while studying the Scriptures, he came across this phrase: "The Just Shall Live By Faith." It changed his life! He realized that Christ had done it all! He just had to receive grace and forgiveness! Wow! Once he understood this truth, he just had to speak out! You see, the Roman Catholic Church was in a terrible state. It's hard for us to imagine because the Roman Catholic Church today is not in the same place. In those days, men could buy an office in the church so many non-Christians were in important posts. But even then, many godly men and women were serving in the church as priests, abbots, nuns, and monks. Their hearts were grieved. The Reformers (Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Calvin, Tyndale) were all members of the Roman Catholic Church. They did not want to live it; they wanted mess cleaned up. Unfortunately, the clean-up did not come in time and now we have many denominations today. However, we can look back to the Reformation and be grateful for the return to biblical teaching on Salvation, Grace, Faith, and the Authority of Scripture. The Reformation brought us the Five Solas. The Five SolasEverybody loves a hero! As Christians, we are blessed with a long line of men and women who followed Jesus with all their hearts, making a difference in the world around them! What a heritage we have! Apostle Paul, Athanasius, St. Augustine, Pope Gregory, Caedmon, St. Frances, St. Patrick, John Wycliffe, John Huss, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, Lady Jane Grey, John Knox, William Wilberforce, John Newton, Lottie Moon, Amy Carmichael, George Mueller, David Livingstone, Billy Graham, Edith Schaeffer, Jim Eliot, and Brother Andrew come to my mind. They were mighty men and women who changed the world! From the early Christians who risked their lives to serve Christ to missionaries in the 21st Century who are reaching unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window, there are so many Christian heroes I want my children to learn about. I came up with a really fun idea to teach my children about church history in celebratory way! We started having Heroes for Jesus Parties. My children loved them! As they got older, they started playing the Christian heroes themselves at the Heroes for Jesus Party. Would you like to have your own Heroes for Jesus Party? Adam and Seth had died. The earth was filling up. Wicked deeds and sinister plots abounded. The Lord was sad He had made mankind. He would need to start over. Only one man and his family on the entire planet was seeking to live for Him. He would destroy the earth, but save Noah and his family. God gave instructions to Noah and this righteous family built a huge ship. While the men worked on the ark, Noah preached to anyone who would listen. He begged people to turn away from their sin and follow God. In the midst of an evil world, God had a hero. Centuries later, in the evil city of Ur where men worshiped demons and lived for pleasure, God called a man out, to follow Him. He wanted to start a nation and through that nation bring a Messiah. Abraham walked with God. He left his family home with his wife and nephew to live in the land his descendants would inhabit. In a wicked world, one man stood alone to serve his God. What’s more fun than going to a bowling alley? Playing giant bowling! Every month our Young Adult group meets to fellowship, get into the Word, and have fun playing different games. We always plan a dinner that tastes great, and is easy to make. We also like to have bible studies, times where we can encourage each other and share what the Lord has been teaching us lately, watch sermons. We also like to have fun! Our group loves improv, so many times the games are some type of improv game. However, while searching the internet, we found a giant, inflatable version of bowling, with the bowling pins and ball. With a little brain storming, we decided on playing three different versions of bowling. We found a miniature set (the ball was the size of a marble), and used a child’s plastic bowling set (that a friend had) for the third game. It is fun to go bowling, but even more fun when you can come up with your own versions of bowling games! Below are the 3 games we played and the instructions. You certainly don’t have to play the games exactly as we did (even we changed the games as we went), but this can be a great starting point to spark your creativity! These are the bowling games we decided on: Miniature BowlingI found this sweet essay my daughter Jenny Rose wrote after my mother passed away. In it is a message that you will appreciate and enjoy. …. How wonderful that the human race is made up of people of all ages and in different stages of life. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of time spent with people of different generations. Memories and growth come from a parent with their baby, a child with their elderly neighbor, or even a teenager with a mom that has six children! What every relationship has in common is learning from each other’s lives and experiencing the amazing differences and similarities. The beauty comes from bridges that are gapped between the ages and love flowing from acceptance and admiration. The time spent together doesn’t have to have a limit. It could be a minute, an hour, or a whole day. In my case, it was a week. Wrapping presents, decorating the house, and a sense of expectation in every heart...holidays bring joy to life! Does that make you feel excited or overwhelmed? We can get into a routine of holiday preparation that leaves us feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. Back in Old Testament Days, God provided holidays to refresh His people. Celebrations today should be refreshing, too. Celebrations can provide refreshment, strengthen family relationships, instill godly values in our children, and remind us of God's goodness. However, if we wear ourselves out in the process of preparation and celebration, we can find ourselves exhausted and wondering when it will all be over. If we are going to make every holiday holy, setting it apart and celebrating in a way that honors Christ, we need to be careful to avoid exhaustion and frustration. So how do we do that? Cookies baking, laughter in the air, and a sense of expectation in every heart...holidays bring joy to life! More than national celebrations, these special days can provide refreshment, strengthen family relationships, instill godly values in our children, and be celebrations of the goodness of God! God has been so good to us. He has given us the free gift of eternal life and walks with us day-by-day. He answers our prayers. He is closer than a brother. Jesus has endured all the temptations that we face and now rules as a sympathetic High Priest. Wow! We are so blessed! Holidays are the perfect time to celebrate God's goodness. Some holidays are truly holy days, set apart by Christians to celebrate God's grace. We can make every holiday holy, setting it apart and celebrating in a way that honors Christ. On each occasions, we can find aspects of God's goodness to celebrate. Traditional holiday treats, family stories, and a sense of expectation in every heart...holidays bring joy to life! These set-apart days provide refreshment, strengthen family relationships, instill godly values in our children, and allow us to celebrate the goodness of God! Some holidays are truly holy days, set apart by Christians to celebrate God's grace. These holidays teach us about the Lord and His Ways. It's a fun way to learn more about our Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, we can proactively use every holiday to instill godly values in our children. We must be purposeful in how we celebrate holidays so that we make time to participate in activities that train our children. It's easier than you think! |
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