Is Jesus the Reason for your Season or merely part of your Season?
Hard question…
As you know, our church has been partaking in a #putJesusBackinChristmas mission by having an Advent Christmas Tree with Names of Jesus being added each day. The kids watch a short Happy Hunter video on Facebook, add an already painted ornament with that name to the tree, look up the scripture, and talk about it. It has been an awesome way to start each day off in December with Jesus!
As we were putting the first ornaments on the Advent tree, my kids wanted to put them on our actual tree. As I thought about it, I decided we should add names of Jesus ornaments to the tree.
However… a tradition I had been holding onto started when my oldest was a baby- the ornaments… Each year we made an ornament for the tree. For ten years we have made handmade ornaments and decorated the tree. Truthfully, it didn’t look good. It was like a craft fair explosion, but I loved the memories on the tree…
I really battled with myself on whether or not to change the tree… but ultimately, I chose to follow.
We bought some clear glass bulbs, filled them with paints, and then wrote the names of Jesus on them with paint markers. The 25 bulbs we had filled the tree, and it looked beautiful!
As my daughter looked at the tree she said, “Mom, seeing the names of Jesus on the tree reminds me that it’s not about the gifts under the tree. It’s all about Jesus!”
Yes, my dear it is!
BUT HOW DID YOU NOT ALREADY KNOW THAT?!?
There’s so much I could add here… but I am feeling as if this should just be a time of self-reflection.
Is your Christmas season all about Jesus?
Or do you just add him to the already full celebration?
What message does that send to the people around you?