Christmas

Tips for Making a Minimal Christmas a Meaningful Christmas

December 1, 2020 by Megan

Christmas is going to look different for a lot of people this year. Some families may not be able to travel to see loved ones as they have in the past. Some families may not be able to take part in much-loved traditions such as attending church Christmas programs, caroling at nursing homes, or enjoying Christmas parties with friends. And, because of job losses or other financial hardships, some families may not be able to exchange gifts like they have in the past. Many families are needing to plan for a much more minimal Christmas season.

But whatever your circumstances this year, you can still celebrate Christmas. Christmas is not about big gatherings, outings, fancy decorations, or gift exchanges—Christmas is all about celebrating Christ.

A few years ago, my family made the intentional choice to steer our celebration of Christmas away from being focused on “stuff.” Honestly, it was not an easy move at first. But it was worth it. The more that we have focused on Christ, the more meaningful the holiday has become. Here are a few tips for creating a Christ-centered, minimal, meaningful Christmas for your home.

1. Get everyone involved in your minimal Christmas.

A big part of our Christmas celebration is a family worship time. Months before Christmas, we work together with our kids to plan a Christmas program. The kids read or recite verses, sing carols (or play them on a musical instrument), and act out the Christmas story. Sometimes extended family members are here to see the live performance, but we always record a video to send to loved ones who can’t be there.

There are lots of ways your kids can get involved in celebrating Christ’s birth. They can decorate a tree with homemade, Christ-themed ornaments or participate in the reading of Scripture passages related to the incarnation. Or they can make cookies to take caroling around your neighborhood. The more that they can get involved, the more meaningful the day will become for them.

2. Plan a special menu for the day.

Have you ever noticed how most of the celebrations mentioned in the Old Testament center around food? Food is a big part of our lives and our culture. And food can turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day.

Food plays an important part in our Christmas celebration. We have built Christmas traditions around food—Christmas is the day that begins with homemade cinnamon rolls and ends with homemade chocolate waffles with ice cream. Most of the food that we enjoy on Christmas takes a lot of effort, more effort than I would be willing to expend on an ordinary day. But on Christmas that effort helps signal the specialness of the day. And as my daughters have gained kitchen skills, I value the time that we spend cooking together on Christmas. It’s a great day to teach life skills and build relationships.

3. Be intentional with gifts.

On this point, my family is very countercultural. We do not exchange toys, clothes, gadgets, etc. on Christmas. We’re not Scrooges; we do have that kind of a gift exchange—we just do it on a different day. On Christmas, we give our children stockings full of special treats (candy and snacks that they always ask for but rarely get) and a book or other item that will help them focus on Christ (such as a new Bible, missionary biography, devotional book, etc.).

Whatever you decide to do about gift exchanges, be intentional and communicate your intentions to your kids so they know what to expect.

4. Use the day to build relationships.

Holidays are special days. It’s unusual to have an entire day with no work planned—no landscaping work, no cleaning, no shopping, etc. Take advantage of the day to do things together that you may not normally have time to do. Play a board game together. Do a puzzle or build with blocks. Take a family walk. Make a gingerbread house. There’s a myriad of activities that your family can do together. So go make those memories.

Christmas doesn’t have to be big to be meaningful. A minimal Christmas intentionally centered on the celebration of Christ’s incarnation will leave your hearts full at the end of the day.

Christ is all we need. May Christ be all we desire.

The Best Gift of Christmas

December 25, 2018 by Jenna

During Christmas time, we often focus on giving. We teach our children that it’s better to give than to receive. You may have helped them create a Christmas gift budget. Or you may have encouraged them to give by serving others. We must remember that we as children of God are able to give in love because we were first loved. In this season of giving, let each gift shine with the love of God.

Teaching Your Kids to Make Christmas Gift Budgets

October 25, 2018 by Guest Writer

Christmastime can be overwhelming not just for adults but for children too. “You want this! You need this!” scream the ads on TV, on the radio, at the mall, in the mail—and it’s all designed to incite greed and the desire for more. Sure, we love to see those happy smiles when our kids get something precious they’ve longed to own, but Christmas is primarily about the blessing of giving. By teaching your kids how to develop their own Christmas gift budgets, you’re reinforcing that focus on giving and encouraging financial responsibility at the same time.

Making a List

Sit down with your kids and create a Christmas list together, not of things they want to receive, but of people they love—close family members, other relatives, neighbors, teammates, and friends. For some of the people on the Christmas list, each child will want to make or purchase a separate, special gift. For others, the gift could be a joint one from your whole family. You could have your kids color code those who will receive individual gifts and those who will get a joint gift.

Setting a Total Amount for the Gift Budgets

Whether your children are planning on buying the Christmas gifts or making them, they’ll need a budget. Explain that even a handmade gift costs something in time, effort, and supplies. Since your kids may be new to this concept, suggest a total budget amount for each child. This amount could be money they earn or money that you give them to spend.

Dividing Up the Funds

Here’s where the math comes in! Ask each child to divide the total amount of his or her budget by the number of people on the Christmas list. The result is the per-person Christmas budget. You could also suggest that your kids spend a little more on the people closest to them and a little less on others. Younger kids need help with this part, but the older children can figure out the math on their own.

Making the Purchases

As your children are shopping for gifts or supplies, they’ll probably be tempted to overspend or to buy something for themselves. Encourage them to stay focused, stick to their per-person amount, and look for items of decent quality. It’s all about planning ahead and resisting the impulse buy, yet still finding or creating something that shows love.

Are you ready to refocus your children on giving rather than getting? You’ve got two months before Christmas—plenty of time to help them work on a budget, make some gifts, shop strategically, and enjoy the sweet spirit that comes with thinking more about others and less about self. After all, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

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Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Following the Wise Men to Raise Wise Children

December 26, 2017 by Ben

As a homeschool dad, I love seeing my girls put aside their rivalries to put on a Christmas pageant. Last Christmas, our first grader organized a Christmas Eve pageant that she and her sisters put on for us and their grandparents. Of course, one of the cutest parts was when three little “wise” girls presented gifts to their baby doll.

We often meditate on the symbolic nature the wise men’s gifts but may not realize that their presentation of gifts to the King plays a significant role in the unfolding story of creation, fall, and redemption. Their acts of worship before the Christ child are a pattern for what Christian parents are trying to accomplish in homeschooling. Let’s meditate together on the wise men, their role in “the old redemption story,” and how we can use it to inspire our homeschooling all year round.

The Past Worship of the Wise Men

Their Story

The wise men are mentioned in the Bible only in Matthew 2:1–12. Since they’re called wise men or magi (from the Greek magos), it is clear that they had wisdom in their work that was respected by their community. It was probably because of this wisdom that they had prospered enough to be able to afford gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

In some way, they also had a heart toward God. As scholars, they were familiar with the Scriptures and apparently knew the messianic prophecy of Numbers 24:17. Since they were watching the heavens for a sign of God’s Messiah, they saw the star when it appeared and immediately set out to find the child. When they arrived in Bethlehem, their hearts rejoiced—not that they had found a new source of earthly treasure but that they had found the child.

The wise men went in and humbly bowed down in worship. They opened their treasures and presented their gifts to the King.

Their Part in God’s Story

In the unfolding of God’s redemptive story, the wise men’s worship of Jesus was a sign that He was the King of the Jews. Jesus was the Christ, the Chosen One, who was coming to break the power of the fall and redeem people and the creation.

Part of that redemption involves how men and women use God’s blessing of dominion over creation (Genesis 1:26–28). Fallen people pursue wealth through dominion to be independent of God. Redeemed people use the prosperity produced by their wise dominion to accomplish God’s purposes and give Him glory.

This is exactly what the wise men did. They had grown in wisdom by observing God’s creation in the fear of the Lord. Their exercise of that wisdom in dominion over creation led to prosperity. And they took that prosperity and offered it to their God in worship.

The Future Worship of the Wise Men

The wise men of that first Christmas were prototypes of future wise men. At the end of story of Scripture, the Father and Son rule from the new Jerusalem. There “the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into [the new Jerusalem]” (Revelation 22:24). These kings of the saved nations are exercising dominion in the restored earth and bringing their treasures to the King in worship. Notice how the unique treasures of the kings are called “their glory.”

In the eternal state, redeemed men and women will still use math, science, social studies, and language arts. And the end of their labor will be God’s glory.

Homeschooling Wise Men (and Women!) Today

So what does this have to do with homeschooling? Everything! It demonstrates the redeemed purpose for learning history, math, science, and language arts. Here are three steps our children can take to follow the example of the wise men in the past and in the future.

Grow in Wisdom

The wise men didn’t become wise by being lazy in their study of God’s creation. Remember, when we study how God’s world works, we’re learning His wisdom.

Prosper in God’s Calling

Exercising God’s wisdom in His calling led to prosperity for the wise men. It can for your children as well. If they’re faithful in their mastery of science and math and God calls them to engineering, they should prosper as engineers.

Offer the Glory of the Calling

Prosperity is piece of glory that we receive for acting wisely in the fear of the Lord. We should take that glory and offer it to God. When we use our skills in service to our neighbor or in the household of God, we are worshiping. When we take a portion of our treasure and give it to God, we are worshiping Him in the exact same manner as the wise men of old. We are literally giving glory to God.

This Christmas, as my homeschooled girls perform their Christmas pageant, I want them to know that they can follow in the footsteps of the wise men. They can daily study to become wise women so they can offer their treasures to King Jesus.

6 Gift Ideas Kids Can Make

December 14, 2017 by Megan

My husband and I have tried to teach our children since they were very young that Christmas is not all about them. First and foremost, it is about Christ. But this season does give us and our children a prime opportunity to practice loving our neighbors. We can show our love to family members, music teachers, Sunday school workers, and people in our neighborhood by giving them gifts for Christmas. My children have no difficulty coming up with a list of gift ideas for everyone, but they do have one problem—they lack money.

So, in order to participate in gift-giving, they have to be creative and make the gifts themselves. Here are some of our favorite do-it-yourself gift ideas. Most of these projects don’t involve any expensive materials and need little-to-no supervision.

1. Decorated Mugs

We tried making our own mugs for the first time this year, using the tutorial from 5mintesformom, and they came out great! I could hardly believe how easy and inexpensive they were to make. I bought the mugs for less than a dollar apiece at Walmart. The oil-based Sharpies are a little pricey, but they’re worth the investment because the water-based Sharpie ink washes off quickly.

2. Dish Towels

My three-year-old loved making dish towels for her grandparents this year. We loosely followed the instructions from icanteachmychild.com but skipped the part about using contact paper. My daughter enjoyed using a pencil eraser to make polka dots and a foam stamp to add butterflies. The flour-sack towels necessary for this project are available at Walmart for under a dollar each, so this also ends up being a very inexpensive gift.

3. Bookmarks

Any child who can sew on a button can make these adorable ribbon bookmarks featured on DYI Joy. They make perfect gifts for booklovers and can be completed very quickly with just a few supplies.

4. Coasters

A couple years ago, my children made coasters similar to the ones found on thefrugalgirls.com. We used tissue paper to make ours, but I love the idea of using photos.

5. Treats

Almost every year, my children and I make some special treats to give to our neighbors. We’ve made truffles like the ones on Snack Works using mint Oreos and dark chocolate for the coating. We’ve also made white chocolate pretzels like the ones on geniuskitchen.com.

6. Mixes

Mason jars filled with homemade chai tea mix (see the recipe on thekitchenismyplayground.com) or hot chocolate mix (see livingasunshinelife.com) are also great gift ideas. My kids like to help mix everything together and decorate the jars for the lucky recipients.

Does your family have any do-it-yourself gift ideas that you love to make and share? We would love to hear about your children’s creative adventures! Share a link or a photo in the comments below or tag us on Facebook or Pinterest.

Happy gift-making!