Here is her summary:
Christmas Traditions that Lead us Closer to Christ
I heard Christmas music the first of November and it made me feel panicked and anxious. That is not the type of feelings I want to remember having at Christmas time. As I contemplated what to focus my lesson on today, I decided I needed to find a way to have my holiday center around Christ, instead of all the other things that usually take over our festivities.
I was talking to Sister Rachael Clark about this idea, and she gave me a book called “A Christ Centered Christmas”, written by Emily Freeman. In the book she discusses seven traditions that help lead her family closer to the Savior at Christmas time. So I’ve combined some of her thoughts and ideas with traditions and memories of my own.
Sister Freeman explains that they put the pieces of their nativity scene up, one figurine at a time, and do a tradition or activity represented by each figurine, that helps their family grow closer to Christ.
MARY: When I think of Mary, I always reflect on my experience as an expectant mother. I could hardly stand riding in a car for more than ½ an hour, can you imagine riding on a donkey for 160 km (almost 100 miles) from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea? Can you imagine the anxiety, the fear, and the uncertainty she must have felt? As a mother, your heart is always turned toward your family, especially your babies! I love verse 19 of Luke 2, which says “Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
1. What do you think she pondered?
2. Ponder what the birth of the Savior means to you.
3. If you could have been anyone present on the first Christmas night, who would you choose to be, and why?
Some of the things we have done as a family to help us "ponder" that wondrous night are: attending a live nativity, visiting temple square, attending a Messiah sing in or the Tabernacle choir concert. What are things you do throughout the season that help you ponder or contemplate the significance of that night?
JOSEPH: As a protector and a provider of his little family, I’m sure that night must have been frightening and frustrating for Joseph. We learn in the footnote of Luke 2:7, that there was no room for them in the inns, not just one inn, which suggests that the young couple did not just stop at one place to find shelter, but were turned away over and over again with the words that must have become discouragingly familiar, “no room!”
This is such a busy time of year. Do we find room for Him, and let Him in? The best way to show our Savior that we will make room for him in our life is to do something “unto one of the least of these.” (Matthew 25:40) Sister Freeman says before they place the figurine of Joseph in their nativity they perform an act of heartfelt service for someone in need.
ANGELS: I think the angels had the most glorious roll that wondrous night. Wouldn’t that be an awesome assignment, to bring forth the “good tidings of great joy!”? There was a multitude of angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:10-14) The word praising suggests to me that they were singing.
1. How important is music during the Christmas season?
2. We have gone to the Utah Bell Ringers concert, my girls choral concerts, the stake choir side, Messiah Sing In, Kurt Bestor Concert. How has music helped your family come closer to Christ through the Christmas season?
SHEPHERDS: There are a few things that always impress me about the shepherds. After the angels give them the glorious news about the birth of the Savior they say to one another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” Then they came with haste to see the “babe lying in a manger.”
I looked up the word haste in the dictionary and it means: “swiftness of motion, urgent need of quick action, a hurry or rush, to act or go with speed; to hurry. “
The shepherds didn’t make excuses about why they couldn’t go, they didn’t put it off until the next night, they went, with haste. That is always inspiring to me.
The other thing Luke tells us about the shepherds is in verses 17 and 18: “And when they had seen (the babe), they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered (or marveled) at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” The shepherds didn’t keep the joy to themselves, they shared it! Sister Freeman suggests spending an evening in December with your family, taking turns sharing your testimony of the Savior and the moments when you have seen His hand in your life.
WISEMEN: The gifts the wise men brought to the Christ child might be used to simplify your gift giving. “Gold was a gift for a king, celebrating the baby’s royalty. Myrrh, a common incense used for cleaning and for burial, was given in remembrance of His humanity and foreshadowed the importance of His death. Frankincense, an incense used in the temple, represented His divinity.” After learning what each of their gifts meant, Sister Freeman decided to follow this same pattern, so on Christmas morning, her children received one gift from Santa, and then three other gifts inspired from the gifts of the Magi – one that is joyful, one that is needful, and one that is meaningful. She said this simplification has made the gifts more personal and more meaningful.
1. What have you have done to keep the emphasis away from “what am I gonna get for Christmas”?
THE LAMB: Symbolic of many teachings of Christ, the lamb often represents a true follower. The Bible Dictionary explains, “Shepherds still, as of old, go before the sheep, and the sheep follow, being….attached to their masters, whose voice they instantly recognize.” How can we recognize our Shepherd’s voice, or His words? We need to study His words, found in scripture.
1. Throughout the month of December, we’ve added to our regular scripture study, a Christmas Countdown from a past issue of “The Friend” that has you read a few scriptures each day about the life or teachings of the Savior.
2. We also have a book that my sweet mother in law made for us years ago, that has a song, scripture, and inspirational Christmas story for each day of December.
3. We always reenact the Christmas story on Christmas Eve.
THE CHRIST CHILD: Sister Freeman told a story about getting her first Nativity set. She instructed her 3 year old son not to touch the nativity. She came in and found her set rearranged. She reminded her son not to touch the nativity, and put it back the way she had it. The next day she found the set rearranged again. Feeling frustrated, she asked her son again if he had touched the nativity. He admitted that he had, and when she asked him why, he said he moved them so they all could see the baby Jesus.
1. Where is your focus this Christmas season?
2. Can you see Jesus?
“I hope He has become the focus of your celebration, the reason for the season, the center of your Christmas beliefs. As Christ becomes our focus, we will begin to realize that Christmas is more than a date on the calendar – it is a way of living. “ (Sister Freeman)
One thing you could do, either the last thing on Christmas Eve, or before you open presents on Christmas morning, is give everyone a piece of paper and have them write down a gift they want to give to Jesus. The gift is something they commit to work on, a goal that will bring them closer to Christ. Keep the papers, and then give them back to each family member the following year so they can ponder how they’ve done.
My goal today was not to overwhelm you with more things to do. I just felt inspired after contemplating the idea of striving to have my traditions throughout the Christmas season focus more on Christ, that it would help me escape the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, even just for a moment.
and make grilled cheese and apple pies in the fireplace)
