 One of my favorite plays I have directed is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I always loved the scene where the actual church Christmas Pageant would occur. There would be a reading from a portion of scripture, the "Angel Choir" would sing an accompanying Christmas Carol and then the little children dressed as shepherds or animals would come into the picture surrounding Mary, Joseph and the baby.  The baby angels from "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Christian Life Preparatory School 2015. My daughter Sadie is far left. Years ago, before we had our children, my husband told me about a dream he had of having his family participate in the nativity story while interacting with his grandmother's nativity. Each Christmas Eve, usually after a service at church, our family would huddle near the Christmas tree and read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Each family member would hold a character from the nativity and as their character was mentioned, they would place it in the nativity. This was simple enough and very memorable for our young children. This year our family had a special holiday in Galveston to be near to a very dear family member who was undergoing treatment at MD Anderson and wouldn't be able to have a family Christmas unless we came to her. This was the perfect opportunity to expand our normal (very short) Christmas Eve story and get the entire story put together in one place and get the whole extended family to participate. I compiled the Christmas scriptures including prophecies about Jesus and included the Christmas Carol based on those verses. My husband has experience leading worship in our local church so we also printed the chords for him to play the guitar while we sing. Notes:
 You can print any pictures of characters and cut and Modge Podge the pictures to wooden blocks. They are indestructible!  One year my daughter rearranged all the nativities and added some Little People Disney princesses and an owl in a truck. I imagined this was like a pre-meeting for everyone: "Okay everybody, Christmas is almost here! And although we represent several different nativities (and an owl in a truck), we need to pull together to tell the story of Christmas. Jesus, you are doing perfectly. Everyone look at Jesus' commitment and imitate it. Let's do this!" Family Christmas Eve Service ScriptI printed the nativity scripts and the characters and gave everyone a candle. Then everyone who could read read a section in turn and the kids added their piece. I was too into leading this year's service to take any pictures but will try to get some next year. Family Caroling BookI also made a caroling book with the full lyrics of all the songs and popular secular songs too. If you are from Oklahoma, I also included the B.C. Clark's anniversary sale lyrics. If you know, you know. Merry Christmas!
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 Christmas is a tricky season. We want to make the season special. However, traps are everywhere! My husband and I have a deep desire to disciple our children to walk with Jesus their whole lives (Deut 4:6). But when it comes to Jesus' birthday, we find ourselves entangled in all kinds of unspoken traditions and expectations that have lead to frustration and resentment in the past. We have learned we need to approach Christmas deliberately and framed within our greater convictions about family rhythms, money and trying to please God and not man (Galatians 1:10). I still get trapped! At my house the tradition of decorating the house turns into an overflow project of winter cleaning the attic storage room. Five strands of lights are out. "Do we have the budget to replace them?" Christmas candy-making turns into bickering as each kid each wants to be the one to put the nut in the Rolo turtles and someone ending up getting a burn while struggling with each other over the hot cookie sheet. ("Everyone stop! Let's talk about how grabby hands come from grabby hearts...")
My husband and I have to enter each holiday season on the same page. We have a Parent- Christmas Conference. This helps us talk through our expectations before there is a blow up. On the conference agenda every year: How do we treasure Christ in the season?
 Christmas Eve service at church. We would go early in the day to have time for our own service at home. The overall plan.
 This year's Christmas decorations were intentionally simple. We had a wreath on the door and some garland on another bookcase but left everything else alone. I wanted to value rest over an overly-decorated house. What can we say "no" to? I have to admit, this is a lovely problem to have. We are incredibly grateful for the enormous amount of relationships we have built through church and work life as administrators at CLPS. However, with this staggering number of relationships come more events than we could possibly agree to attend. More than that, we have 5 kids. We have to discuss:
Spending quality time conferencing with your spouse (and your older children as they grow into maturity) about Christmas expectations can prepare your heart for the season. Stating your expectations out loud and in light of your objective as the primary disciplers of your children, you can identify areas where your heart will be tempted to give into worldly demands. I hope that helps.  This year we limited presents and went to a beach house with the whole family instead. We appreciate time together when we feel we have enough "stuff." |
AuthorAmy Hay lives in Fort Worth with her husband and five kids. She works at Christian Life Preparatory School where her oldest children also attend. She likes to blog about questions she is frequently asked about. ArchivesCategories |
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