Thursday, December 18, 2008

Teaching My Kids About Christmas?

My son, Kidron, is 4 1/2 years old and he is sooooo excited about Christmas he can hardly contain himself. He keeps asking, "Is Christmas tomorrow yet?" mainly because we keeping telling him how many days are left before Christmas gets here...he's not quite getting the meaning of "tomorrow" I think. We recently attended a Christmas party where there were a good 50 -60 people crammed into one home and half of them were little kids. We had a great time as Santa came and handed out one present a piece to each child that was there while the parents sat around and took pictures and just enjoyed being together. Now Kidron got a great gift (Thomas Train and tracks) that he thoroughly enjoys, but his first question after he opened his gift was "Where's my next gift?". These two scenarios brought me to this question...What am I teaching my boys (I have another son, Kasen, who is just over a year old) about Christmas? Not just my words, because Kidron has heard the story of baby Jesus many times, but what are my actions telling him? Are my words about how important the gift of Jesus is and that He, indeed, is the reason for the season matching up with the "running around like a chicken with my head cut off to get yet another present for my kids" craziness that overtakes us this time of year? Am I confusing my son when I talk about what he wants on his Christmas list, show him all of the Rudolph, Frosty, and Santa specials on TV, and explain all about what happens with Santa and Rudolph on Christmas Eve, and how he gets down the chimney and so on way more than I do about the life changing gift of Jesus Christ to the world...Am I out of balance...are you? I continue to think and pray about this...I want my sons to be givers who think of others before themselves, not just the type of person who wants to know where his next gift is...Lord, help me to model this more with my actions and not just my words in front of my boys this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

No comments: