It’s that time of year, the best time of the year, its Christmastime.  There’s so much to look forward and enjoy in the Christmas season, but it can all become overwhelming and simply overshadow the true meaning of Christmas, which is celebrating the birth of Jesus.  The days in December quickly become cluttered with class parties, dinner gatherings, white elephant gift exchanges, work lunch celebrations and the list goes on.  These are all good and fun things, but all jammed together in just a few short weeks, can often take the joy out the season of Christmas.

So how do you slow down and capture the intended meaning of Christmas?  

• Find the things that mean the most to your family, and make those a priority.
  • If your child really wants you to attend their class party at school, then take time off work to be there.
  • If hosting a cookie decorating party for families in your neighborhood is your favorite tradition, then make it happen.
  • But if your book club ornament exchange is just one more thing to add to the calendar, consider opting out of that one.

Be Intentional With Your Family

• Be intentional to create and build meaningful traditions for your family.
  • Our family loves to have an Advent countdown calendar. We make sure for each child to have their own fun advent calendar, you know, the ones they sell on Amazon and you can open a piece of chocolate, a tiny toy car or some other small item each day in December.  But we also use a set of scripture cards where we read a verse a day about the birth of Jesus to help us remember why we celebrate Christmas.
  • Some families like to adopt a child or family in need and provide gifts or a Christmas meal for that family. Doing things for others is a great way to honor the birth of Christ.

Christmas Events In Arlington

• Find events in the community that celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.
  • Here at First Baptist Arlington, we have several fun events to remind your family that Jesus is the reason for the season.
    • “Illuminate” – A Christmas Music Experience – December 8 – 5 pm
    • Christmas ADVENTure – FREE FAMILY EVENT – December 15th – 4-6 pm
    • Christmas Eve Candlelight Services – December 24 – 1:30, 3:00 & 4:30pm

It’s easy to get so busy that we miss what started this thing we call Christmas.  It was the miraculous birth of a tiny baby over 2,000 years ago.  Its easy in today’s culture to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of a busy season.  All the parties and presents are fun, but it takes being intentional and seeking out the meaningful things that will help your family focus on Jesus at Christmas.