What's So Exciting About Christmas?

    I have to admit, I loved Christmas as a kid…but for all the wrong reasons. Yes, excitement was in the air. I could feel the “Christmas magic” all the Hallmark Channel specials this time of the year talk about. But for me, it was based on the anticipation of “getting”. It shouldn’t have been, but that’s what it was for me. Every year we went to church and my parochial school put on a program where the focus was on Jesus’ birth. But I think most of us were just looking forward to getting home and unwrapping all the loot under the tree. By 5pm on Christmas Day, the excitement was over, some of the toys were broken, and I was already bored. So much for Christmas magic.
    Linda and I wanted a very different experience for our kids. Then again, when our kids were little, we didn’t have much to spend on Christmas gifts anyway. So we had a different focus. When the kids were young, Linda started a tradition for them we called, “The Blessing Tree”. She hung 23 sealed notes on the tree with instructions or “blessings”. Most of them instructed us to bless others in a specific way, such as, “Write an anonymous note to someone at church and tell them why they are appreciated,” and each of us would do it. Another was, “Pick out someone who is hurting and slip a $5 bill into their pocket.” Others were about treats: “We go to Culver’s tonight for ice cream!” Every night the kids would argue about whose turn it was to choose a blessing and open it, and then we did it together as a family. Since the kids have gotten older, we’ve gotten away from the tradition the last couple of years. But by popular demand, Linda is resurrecting it this year :-).
    We also have always tried to take on a project to focus on others this time of year. One year we wrapped gifts that were supplied by donors for needy families. For a couple of years we brought hats and gloves into the city to give to homeless people we could find. This year we are going to the city to give out McDonald’s gift cards.
    And of course, every year it’s a priority for us to go to church on Christmas Eve (whether or not we are in town). I’m amazed at the number of Christians who say things like, “Keep Christ in Christmas” but then stay home from church for some family gathering and spend the time talking to the kids about Santa.
    Believe me, I’m not against gift-giving on Christmas Eve, and we do that as a family. It’s just that we spend relatively little, and really try to use the season as a focus on Christ, and representing him to others. Think of the impact we could make if all Christians truly focused on Jesus during this holiday, rather than falling prey to the world’s trappings of false “magic” and fake excitement. If Jesus really was God who became a man and if that’s what we are celebrating this time of year, I’d say we ought to do so with reckless abandon. When we do that, there is no letdown after the holiday...no boredom on Christmas Day evening. It then becomes an excitement, a magic, if you please, that changes us and our kids for a lifetime. That’s a Christmas worth celebrating!