The article I read talked about giving three gifts that represent the three gifts Jesus received. What an amazing idea! I've heard of giving three gifts because that is how many Jesus received, but never heard of them REPRESENTING what he received. I thought it was exactly what we needed to help bring Christ back into Christmas!
1st Tradition
Here's how it breaks down:The first gift Jesus received from the wise men was gold. Back then, gold was more valuable than it is today. It was something only highly regarded people possessed. Definitely fit for a King! This gift of gold most likely helped Mary and Joseph escape from Bethlehem to Egypt.
Explain to your kids the importance of this gift to Jesus and his family. Then give them their gold gift. This should be a gift that is something they really want. It is usually the most expensive of the three gifts. We usually give the kids a new bike or something big they've been wanting, (a few times we've gotten bikes from Craigslist that are gently used). Wrap it in gold paper or put a gold bow on it.
The second gift Jesus received was Frankincense. This is a white resin or sap from trees in East Africa and Southern Arabia. It is known for it's healing properties, such as anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-septic, which would have been really helpful with a newborn!
Frankincense was also very sacred for religious purposes. Many times in the Bible, God specifically requests that frankincense be used as sacred incense in His Temple and forbids the Israelites to use it for anything besides His religious purposes. God commanded them to place frankincense in front of the Tent of Meeting to scent the place where he had promised to meet with them. How fitting then that the wise men would bring this gift for Jesus who had become our Emmanuel: God with us!
The frankincense gift should be something that helps your child "meet" with God. A Bible, devotional, worship CD or journal are a few ideas. For younger kids, a Veggie Tales DVD or Praise CD/DVD may work. We've done all of the above as frankincense gifts over the years. Wrap it in white paper.
The third gift Jesus received was Myrrh. This is also resin from a special tree, but it is dark brown and has a strong aroma. In Jesus' time it was used to scent anointing oils, perfumes and embalming liquids. It may seem odd that the wise men gave Jesus a gift that was used for embalming, but when you consider that He was born to eventually die for our sins, the symbolism becomes easier to understand. In John 19:39-40 it is confirmed that Nicodemus did anoint Jesus with myrrh as part of his burial preparation. Explain to your kids that even though Jesus entered the world as a baby, He was sent to die on the cross to take the punishment for each of our sins.
So what kind of gift do you give that represents myrrh? Something to prepare for their funeral? Um, no. A more fitting gift would be something to "anoint" their body. Such as: perfume, cologne, lotion, soap, shampoo. (I found this soap at the local natural grocer and got it for Mikaela last year. It is pricey for a bar of soap, but it is a special gift and smells amazing!!! http://www.soap.com/p/zum-bar-frankincense-myrrh-77275) Younger kids would enjoy bubbles or tub soaps. You could also consider combs, hair products, hooded bath towels or slippers. Wrap this gift in earth-toned paper.
Hopefully, these gifts will help remind your kids why we celebrate Christmas and bring more meaning into your celebration! Remember, the first and most important gift that was given on Christmas was not from the wise men, but from God: the gift of His son Jesus, our Savior!
To reduce expenses and avoid detracting from the three gifts, we've also limited gifts to each other. Instead of each child giving and receiving a gift from their sibling, each child receives one gift from all of their siblings and we limit the cost for each gift to $10-$15. This year, Mikaela suggested all six of us draw names and do a Secret Santa instead. We thought it was a great idea! (She got the idea from the show "19 kids and counting". The Duggars are an inspiration to her and I love it!)
2nd Tradition
Another tradition we started several years ago is being at home for Christmas morning. We usually travel for Thanksgiving, so I like to be home for Christmas. This is a compromise that Tim and I have made. It is not important to him whose house we are at for Christmas morning. However, I really, REALLY enjoy waking up in our own home and having our own traditions play out.We begin every Christmas morning by eating breakfast, having some hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music. The kids have free reign to go through their stockings during this time. (The stockings are filled with a little bit of candy, a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, chapstick, a couple of small toys, books or a DVD.) Then Tim gets a Bible and the kids sit with him as he reads about Jesus' birth. The past couple of years the older two kids have started reading part of it too! Then we discuss what the three gifts represent and begin opening gifts. What I love about our Christmas mornings is that we are making it meaningful. It's not over in 15 minutes!
Now what about Santa and stockings? Tim and I have had many discussions about whether or not Santa should be included in Christmas from a Christian perspective. I feel like it takes away from the real meaning of Christmas and would rather do away with the commercialized Santa. Tim feels like it's harmless fun and it wasn't detrimental to us when we were kids. We both REALLY enjoyed the stockings when we were kids, (we still do). So we compromised and kept Santa...for awhile.
Tim has fond memories of having fun with Santa. When Mikaela was two years old, Tim went outside her window and pretended to be Santa by ringing jingle bells and saying HO, HO, HO! He then went into her room to see if she had heard "Santa" and brought her out to the living room to show her what Santa had brought her. It was fun and I have it on video. :)
St. Nicolas was a great man and a great example for us. But the commercialized Santa is what the kids see. Over the years, we've started going away from Santa filling the stockings. Now the credit goes to Mom and Dad instead of a fictitious man with big belly and long beard! ;)
3rd Tradition
When the older two were very young, I heard about a Christmas ornament tradition that I loved and implemented right away! Each year the kids pick out an ornament for the tree. I write their name and the year on it. When they eventually move out, they will get to take all of those ornaments with them and have at least 18 (no more than 25 ;)) to start decorating their own tree! It has been so much fun seeing which ornament each child chooses and why. I love when we decorate the tree each year and we all are reminded of each ornament! I also love that the ornaments on our tree have meaning behind them.I hope you've enjoyed reading about our Christmas traditions! Please let me know if you decide to do any of these or already are doing them!
May you and your family have a blessed Christmas!
*The article I read was from Christian Parenting Today magazine dated Fall 2002.
