A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 6

Activity: With your family, act out the nativity story. Or you could do it with neighbors for Family Night, or with extended family members. Even if it's just your own little family, you can add props and act the essential parts. Kids will have fun gathering the wardrobe and props! Older children can be the "playwrite," with stage cues, etc.

Quote: “In each of us there is at Christmastime something of our childhood. We all revel in the fun of Christmas—of giving and receiving tinseled presents, of singing favorite carols, of feasting on goodies we never miss at other seasons, of gathering together as family and friends, all having a wonderful time. But there is something else, something better, and that is to sit together as families and read again the fascinating story of the birth of Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem of Judea.” Gordon B. Hinckley, New Era, Dec 2007, 2–5

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 5

Activity: Together as a family, write your testimony of the Savior on a 8x10 paper. Each member could write a few lines giving their testimony in a different crayon color; frame it and hang it prominently for the next few weeks--or year round!

Quote & Scripture: “My testimony coincides with the testimony of the beloved Apostle John: íf ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them’ (John 13:17). May we search for the doctrines and commandments of the great plan of happiness; and when we learn them, may we embrace them willingly. By doing so we will find lasting joy, happiness, and peace.”

~ M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, May 1995, 22

*Note: I am not having success with the Blogger auto-scheduled posts; sorry Day 5 is so late!

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 4

"Hand in Hand," by Greg Olsen

"The spirit of giving gifts has been present in the mind of each Christian as he or she commemorates the Christmas season. Our Heavenly Father gave to us His Son, Jesus Christ. That precious Son gave to us His life, the Atonement, and victory over the grave.

"What will you and I give for Christmas this year? Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following in His footsteps. It was said of Him that He 'went about doing good.' As we do likewise, the Christmas spirit will be ours."

~ Thomas S. Monson, "What Is Christmas?" Ensign, Dec. 1998, 5

Activity: Deliver a treat to a neighbor, someone who could really use a goodie to bring cheer.

Scripture: Matthew 25:40

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 3

Activity: Draw/Color a picture of the night of nights when the shepherds were abiding in the fields and the angel of the Lord appeared to them.

Scripture: Luke 2:8-20

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 2

This video is a bit long, but SO powerful!
Watch until the end...it's worth it, I promise.

"There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ. It is the time to love the Lord our God with all our heart—and our neighbors as ourselves. It is well to remember that he who gives money gives much, he who gives time gives more, but he who gives of himself gives all. Let this be a description of our Christmas gifts."
~ Thomas S. Monson, “The Gifts of Christmas,” Ensign, Dec 2003, 2–5.

Activity:
Give the gift of yourself: Write a Christmas card to your grandparents or somebody who is elderly and would love to find a bit of joy in the mailbox.

Scripture: 2 Nephi 26:3

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 1

"For Unto Us a Child Is Born," by Simon Dewey

Jesu, joy of man's desiring,
Holy Wisdom, Love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls, aspiring,
Soar to uncreated light.
Word of God, our flesh that fashion'd,
With the fire of life impassion'd,
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying, round Thy throne.

Through the way where hope is guiding,
Hark, what peaceful music rings!
Where the flock, in Thee confiding,
Drink of joy from deathless springs.
Theirs is beauty's fairest pleasure;
Theirs is wisdom's holiest treasure.
Thou dost ever lead Thine own
In the love of joys unknown.

~ Johann Sebastian Bach

Activity: Set out your nativity set. If you don't have one, get out some art supplies and have your children draw a nativity scene; my daughter Isabelle did this a few years ago on her own and it was the cutest thing ever--a precious keepsake. I'm going to have all three of them do one this year.

Scripture: Isaiah 7: 14

Another quick, homespun activity: Make a paper chain with your children to count down the days 'til Christmas.

***What do you do in your home to incorporate
the Savior in your holiday decorations?

Thanksgiving 2009

This year I am thankful for:

Being alive.
The End.
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This is one of those years that is just totally working me over. I feel like a ripe, juicy apple that went into the dryer and came out a craisin.

As with all tough times in life, the things that don't matter have just...fallen away. My list of gratitudes has been pared down to the basics:

I am thankful for a warm place to shelter my babies and for being able to put food in their tummies.

I am thankful for my parents. I've been feeling their unconditional love hitting me in waves across the miles. Time and again this year I've been so grateful for their help just when I need it most, in ways little and big. My day-to-day rollercoaster of emotional survival has caused all the irrelevancies of life just fall away. Some days I feel like the only people in this world who are by my side are the Savior and my parents.

And that has reminded me lately of another time 20 years ago when I felt the same way. I never thought I would get through that year and some nights I would be curled into a ball, crying my eyes out in bed, hoping life would be okay--and yet there was a strange combination of darkness and light in my heart. I think that if you hold fast to the Savior during the dark times, there is a corresponding light which comes to comfort. Sometimes peaceful and glowing, sometimes burning and bittersweet.

Because my parents helped me fight and claw my way out of that year, I emerged a different and better girl. I think I will have another phoenix-from-the-fire ending this time around, too. No matter how hopeless the outlook that defining year 20 years ago, I felt the rock-steady foundation of my parents' presence. And twenty years later I feel the same.

I am thankful to be a parent, myself, and be able to give that foundation to my own children.

I am thankful for healthy children.

I am thankful for my beater van which keeps on running and has no car payment.

I am thankful for my faith in a Savior whose presence I feel, like that other dark time, almost tangibly. Sometimes I feel Him in the room with me, just there to love me even though I am failing miserably at being brave and strong and good. Or even just nice.

And I have been crying as I write this. My eyes are puffy and red. And so I guess I'm not a craisin after all--more a huge pomegranate.