Redeeming the Season

Merry Christmas Everyone! Hope you are enjoying this holiday season as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone in the Richardson household is doing well. We had a great Thanksgiving week and are now trying to get back into the swing of things with our school work.

We've been enjoying the cold weather. One of our favorite things to do during the holidays is to burn a fire in the fireplace. It makes sitting by the Christmas tree so warm and cozy.

As I've been decorating our house and doing lots of "Christmas stuff", I've been thinking about sharing another book with you. (I love books and just can't find enough time to read these days.) The one I want to share with you today is called Redeeming the Season by Kim Wier and Pam McCune. I came across this book a few years ago and pull it out every Christmas season. The authors are both Christian wives and mothers who were looking for ways to simplify the Christmas season in their homes while placing emphasis on what we are actually celebrating - the birth of Jesus. They've included great ideas from ornaments, gift giving and tree decorating to reaching out and sharing Christ's love with our neighbors. It's an easy read and definitely one that I keep on hand for quick reference during the holidays. I've been able to take a lot of the ideas from the book and use them to help make the Christmas season simple, memorable and meaningful for our family.

One of the things we are doing this season is something called attribute ornaments (an idea that came from the book). We have 25 glass Christmas ball ornaments. Each one has an attribute of Jesus written on it. I keep the ornaments in a bowl by our tree and each night before bed time we take one of the ornaments and place it on the tree. Before placing it on the tree, we talk about the ways that Jesus displayed the quality that is written on the ornament. We then look up Bible verses that relate to that quality and then we pray together. It's simple and special and also makes great family devotions during the Christmas season.
I thought I'd share an attribute and Bible verse with you each day during December. (I'll post two today since I didn't post one yesterday.)

Attributes of Jesus

December 1

• Faithful: 1 Corinthians 1:9 "God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."

2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."

December 2

• Righteous: 1 John 2:1 "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."

1 John 2:29 "If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him."