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I would love to share with you today a great family tradition we started three years ago that has helped us to keep Jesus at the center of our celebration in a very tangible, practical way every Christmas’s Eve followed by Christmas Day.
I start two weeks ahead to plan different activities, I jot down each of them and keep them inside an envelope in a basket. We keep an eye on the clock and every hour and a half one of us (taking turns), goes to the basket and grabs and activity for all of us to do. Some of the activities are:
* Reading specific Bible verses which I write down beforehand and place in little envelopes. The Gift of the Word is open.
* Singing Hymns. We have the name of several hymns (and the lyrics for them) in the basket. We bring Him worship.
* Reading short Christmas stories. Little kids enjoy this activity a lot; they like to remember the story of Jesus coming as a baby in a manger. We remember, we gaze at the miracle.
* Praying, thanking. You might find a little note in an envelope saying: Lift up your voice in prayer. We come and bow down in prayer; He came to open the Way, He is the Way.
* There will be some poetry to read that I found at Desiring God by John Piper. These poems are a beautiful way to remember, to worship, to ponder. I found this other poem that I will certainly include in the celebration’s basket…White.
*This year I want to include some other things to the basket…
May you start all your preparations full of anticipation and joy!
May God give you a Christmas full of Him!
Please join us at Like a Bubbling Brook for a Parade of Christmas!
This is a repost from the archives (December 2009)
Celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord! Read other related posts…
Celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord – The Incarnation of our Lord is the heart of Christmas-
Celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord – A story for little souls-
Celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord – A guest post by Elizabeth DeBarros, Gifts We Bring-
Have you thought about The Mystery of His coming? Please read this, over at Rebecca’s.
What about reading 12 Days of Christmas with Spurgeon?
This post is linked to “Sharing Christmas” @ The Well
Daily On My Way to Heaven 
>What great ideas! And the poem is beautiful!Thanks for linking up with our Parade of Christmas today ~Jaime @ Like a Bubbling Brook
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>Becky, You are such an artist! Lord bless you! And whoever took that picture of you snapped a great shot! Much love!
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>Becky,Very similar to your idea, I have typed out specific, practical prayers, namely for our neighbors, friends, community and loved ones, and cut them into 1" strips, tightly folded up and placed in a small "prayer bowl." At dinner, someone would either be elected or volunteer to pick a prayer and read/pray it aloud. This has been a special way to teach our children how to lift their voice and heart up to God in prayer. Love,-E
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>Becky,Your packages are beautiful!I love doing things like this for my family, too. :)What about having each family member share how they've seen the other family members grow in Christ over the past year? What an encouragement that would be, especially when growth often seems so slow from our own point of view.
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>Petra, those are great ideas! thank you for your input.I am enjoying your 12 Days of Christmas Series. Thank you for posting those!
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>How neat! Maybe a card with the name of someone to pray for or to visit (maybe in a nursing home); a handmade card to give to a neighbor (to Help spread the Good News); a cookie recipe to bake and share with others. Love and Blessings!
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