Christmas Eve is always a busy and exciting day for our little family, and this year was no exception. First, we began the day with a much-anticipated brunch with my side of the family at my brother, Kirk's house - literally just around the corner from us. It's a wonderful tradition that my family began over a decade ago, and it truly is a time of fellowship for my family. No presents to open or wrapping paper to clean up. It's just about eating and being together. The adults always sit around the table long after the meal is over while the kids play in the other room. It's a wonderful way to start the day and the Christmas festivities. I highly recommend organizing a brunch (or other special meal) with your family and friends around Christmas without gift opening or any of the extra hub-bub. In fact, we always host a brunch at our house on Christmas morning for friends and family who have no other plans. But, I digress.
The clandestine assembly of a brand new trampoline in the backyard consumed our afternoon on Christmas Eve. Santa (my husband) and his helper (my brother, Kevin) were able to assemble the trampoline while I took the kids out for errands and to visit at my parents' house for the afternoon - returning after dark.
Ultimately, the busyness of the day led us to stay home that evening and not attend the service at our church, as we had intended. At first I felt a bit negligent, thinking my children might forget the true meaning of Christmas; however, it turned out to be a blessing that we stayed home. We were able to do something as a family that I believe was even more meaningful to my young children.
We gathered around the kitchen table, lights dimmed. The Christmas tree sparkled in the nearby family room, as I handed each family member a cupcake with a single, unlit birthday candle. There was barely enough light in the room for me to read a Christmas story aloud. Everyone listened intently, as I read aloud the children's picture book, The Light of Christmas. The book explains in a rhyming, poetic manner that our world was dark with sin, and we needed a light from Heaven, so God set forth a plan to send Jesus - the Light of the World. It's a beautiful and touching children's book. We began to read with our candles still unlit. At the appropriate moment in the story, we lit all of our candles to represent the Light of Jesus entering our world, and the glow of our candles illuminated the room. It was undoubtedly a very powerful and memorable visual for the kids.
Once the story was finished, we all sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, blew out our candles and enjoyed our cupcakes. Even the littlest of us learned a great deal through our homemade Christmas Eve service. Ever since, whenever I ask my 2 year old daughter to sing the birthday song, she says, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!"
Juliana, what a fantastic idea! I remember last year talking about how it was funny that we both bought the same book. It really is a good book and we've made it a tradition to read it on Christmas Eve. I've heard about using candles to tell the Christmas story, but I really like the way you combined the light of the world with Jesus' birthday. We may be adding the cupcakes to our Christmas Eve story next year!
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