Christmas Ramblings

It's almost Christmas. 

Daniel is hard at work trying to learn "Hey Diddle Diddle." In our family you have to share a talent before getting a gift. We are trying to start our kids young on that. 

He is hard to teach. My patience ended 15 minutes ago. Thank God for Grandmas whose patience is longer than that of a Mom. I wish she lived closer and could help me teach him more often. 

This year not being at home somehow makes me feel like Christmas isn't really coming.Because of that I have started really looking at my thoughts and views on what makes Christmas festive. 

I am so used to doing tons of baking- and giving cookies to friends and relatives. Somehow the fuss of the time of preparation makes me "feel" like Christmas is coming. But this year we are doing very little baking and somehow I don't even feel like doing it. 

But when I don't do the preparing then I feel as if this time is just an ordinary time- other than the tree and the presents in hiding. 

So what is Christmas? I know what it means because of course PKs know and should know about why Jesus came. 

Yet I want Christmas to be more than baking, presents and warm fuzzy feelings. Not that there is anything wrong with these things. But Christmas is so much more. . . 

What do I want my kids to remember? 

What do I want my kids to think of when they look back 20 years from now and tell their families how they celebrated Christmas? 

How can I show my kids that Christmas is about Jesus and his amazing birth into this dark world? 

How do I include the joy of giving gifts to one another into this celebration of the One True King? 

Questions swirl in my mind and in the midst of all of this I remember that kids somehow understand more than we give them credit for and God can use the little broken pieces of things done and seemingly insignificant acts of celebration and piece them all together to create a foundation of truth in the lives of my kids.