Christmas
is that feel-good time of year when the lights are up, the holiday music is
flowing and the cheer is palpable in the air. It’s also the time of year when
we go through the same Christmas routine as always and pass another holiday
season without necessarily thinking through how the story of Christmas is meant
to change us, not just be a backdrop to two weeks off from school. So, this
Christmas we’re going to take a fresh look at the Christmas story with some new
insights to help us understand how revolutionary Jesus’ arrival on Earth really
was. When we think of the Christmas story this year, let’s be reminded that
Jesus is more than we need during the holiday season, and for the rest of the
year too.
2.
Be a Student of Your Student
What
was it that used to make the holidays special when you were a kid? Was it the
chill in the air signaling that Christmas break was right around the corner?
Baking and decorating ginger bread cookies with a sibling or your mom or dad?
Or, maybe it was that feeling you got on Christmas Eve as you waited for the
morning when you could finally tear into those beautifully wrapped packages
underneath your tree. Whatever may have made the holidays a special time for
you, there is one thing that tends to define the Christmas season for most of
us: family. When we are young, our families define what Christmas looks like
from the traditions they keep to the way they express the story of Jesus to
those around them. And, for those of us who are now leading families of our
own, we are now defining Christmas
for our families. It can feel a bit
overwhelming establishing the values, traditions and attitudes that revolve
around this idea of Jesus’ arrival on this Earth.
While
most students may be able to tell us the “real” meaning of the season, they
aren’t necessarily connecting it to the value of the Christmas story.
Developmentally, our students are in a place where it is difficult to think
outside of their own world and their own lives. They may have head knowledge of
the Christmas story, but in order to take that and bring it down to heart
level, there has to be an experience that they can call their own. This is
especially important for those of us with middle school students who are still
in the developmental stage of egocentric abstraction. During this stage, your
student is the center of his or her own world and is not easily able to
identify with ideas and concepts that are not personally connected to their own
feelings. However, when they have the chance to experience the joy of reaching
out to others in the midst of other’s true needs, they can personally identify
with the value of the Christmas story.
For
those of us with older students, now is the time when they are beginning to
widen their worldview and understand the world outside as more than the sum of
their own feelings and experiences. For them, the experience of reaching out to
others is a chance to put legs to the social and global concerns that are
already stirring in their hearts. Once the meaning of the Christmas story is
tangible through personal experience, it isn’t easily forgotten in the mind of
your teen. Another thing to remember is that though developmentally your
students are in a place where they may not fully “get” the meaning of the
Christmas story, we as the adults in their lives are. It is necessary for us to set the example and show them the
importance of the Christmas story. So, we may need to take some time on our own
to reflect on the value of Jesus’ arrival on Earth before we can begin to
define that for our students.
3.
Action Point
This
Action Point is where, as parents, you can start to define what Christmas is
truly about through the traditions we establish and the way we express the
Christmas story—in our homes, in our schools, in our churches, in our
neighborhoods and to the world at large. This is not just an exercise for the
Christmas season, but rather a great time to start refocusing our family’s
attention on putting Christ back into His rightful place. So, this Christmas as
you and your family settle into the usual gate of the holiday season, take a
moment to pray, reflect and search your heart for how you want to represent the
Christmas story to your family. And then, do something together as a family
that will allow those values to be expressed in a way that will forever shape
the way they “do” Christmas.
Here
are some ideas for ways you and your family can connect to and define the
Christmas story together:
- Adopt a family for Christmas
through the Salvation Army: Salvationarmyusa.org.
- Volunteer at a local homeless
shelter to serve a meal on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
- Give one less
gift this year to each family member and instead buy gifts for children
whose parents are in prison through Angel Tree: Angeltree.org/angeltreehome.
- If you have a musical family,
visit a convalescent home or local children’s hospital and sing some of
those Christmas favorites.
- Help the local
hospice or meals-on-wheels organization distribute Christmas dinners. You
can help prepare the actual meals or donate your time and car to transport
the meals to the elderly or sick.
- Look through Martha Stewart and other crafty magazines or old craft books
for Christmas-inspired crafts and buy enough supplies to have a hospital ward
of children or a retirement home ward make crafts or ornaments with you
and your family.
- Ask your church if there is a family that attends that could use some extra help this holiday season. Invite them over for Christmas dinner or offer to buy and decorate a Christmas tree for them.
This
Christmas, as you celebrate the gift of Jesus and the story of God’s redemption
in all of our lives, take the time to put that message into motion. Christmas
is not just about giving things away so that we get that warm fuzzy feeling, or
because we want to “share the wealth.” It’s about expressing God’s heart for
justice, love and reconciliation.
No comments:
Post a Comment