Christmas is upon us!  It’s time to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  All of the “other stuff” really doesn’t matter.  I decided years ago to focus on Christ and gradually let the hustle and bustle go.

The main thing about Christmas is Christ, right?  Our pastor always says, “Keep the main thing, the main thing”, and I so agree.

For about ten years, I didn’t even send Christmas cards, and I love Christmas cards.  With family and friend celebrations and teaching full time, it was something I just had to let go of.   I didn’t send them again until 2020, when both of our children got married.  That was my favorite of all of our Christmas cards; I was so thankful for both of their spouses.

When Mike had knee replacement surgery one November and changed jobs at the same time after 36 years, we didn’t even put up a Christmas tree…..and it was okay.  Some family members gave me a hard time (I won’t name names 😊) but we were fine with it; we kept the main thing the main thing.

I’ve slowly been getting rid of excess décor as well.   All I decorate with now are my nativities (again, the main thing), greenery, wreaths, candles and stockings.  These are my favorite things to use for celebrating my favorite holiday with my favorite people.  That’s all we need.

As long as I can be with my family and sing “Silent Night” as we worship together, Christmas is complete for me. That’s my favorite moment of the entire year.

What does this have to do with books?   Books can help us keep the main thing the main thing too.  I love reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Night Before Christmas.  But, we need to be quite intentional to read the REAL Christmas story to our children.  Years ago, we found a book called Santa at Bethlehem, a story where Santa came to worship the Christ child- and then decided he needed to continue the tradition of gift giving- it’s beautiful.  I can’t find it online anywhere but there are many others (below), including The First Christmas Night by Keith Christopher, that focus on the birth of Christ.

Okay, I have to admit that this year the temptations are great as this is my first Christmas as a Nana.  I am going to have to use self-control when it comes to buying things for Leo….or not. He has certainly become one of my main (adorable, precious) things!

We can lead our children in the way of keeping the main thing the main thing by teaching them the real, history-changing story of Christ’s birth. We can still do all of the other “fun” things, the ones that we choose to do because they have meaning to us.   We shouldn’t be afraid to let some of the other things go.  Celebrating the miracle birth of a baby in a stable doesn’t require all of the hustle and bustle.  As we “book time with our children” let’s teach them (and remind ourselves) that the main thing is about Christmas is CHRIST.

Christmas Stories about Jesus for Kids

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