FLANFARE: Keep CHRIST in Christmas

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Keep CHRIST in Christmas

It's our baby's first Christmas so hubby and I had the talk about Santa or No Santa. It's already so hard nowadays to downplay the commercialism of Christmas and focus on Christ. Our pet peeve is when we hear or see "Happy Holidays" because it's political correct instead of "Merry Christmas". So when we think of Santa, we don't want any confusion as to who or what Christmas is about for Caris. Yet, I dressed my daughter in a Santa outfit! I couldn't help myself so it's a very thin line to walk...I actually bought the outfit for like $5 on clearance way back in January when I found out I was pregnant with a girl. Me and my bargain hunting... Certain traditions we know we want to instill in her. We read to her the Christmas story from the bible on Christmas Eve to her so that will be an ongoing tradition with us. When she is of age, we will bake a cake for Jesus since people seem to forget that it's His birthday and not theirs with all the presents involved. I also want to start collecting an ornament each year for Caris so by the time she gets older, she will have a collection of ornaments for her tree for when she starts her own family. I actually got that idea from a friend so I can't take credit for that one. I love Christmas ornaments! I usually collect one every year to commemorate something meaningful or significant for that year. For example, when we went on an Alaskan Cruise one year, I found one of a cruise ship and so on...This year, a family friend beat me to the punch and got us a Baby's First Christmas ornament. Also, by faith in Christmas '06, I bought an ornament that said "Dad" on it just believing God was going to bless us with a child soon. Sure enough, I found out I was pregnant last Christmas. I can just go on and on about God's faithfulness...We are so blessed beyond measure by Him!