Sharing Faith | When Decorating for Christmas
You are joining us on the third day of the When Decorating for Christmas series. Click HERE to view Childproofing the Tree, and HERE to view Family Tradition. Stay tuned for the remainder of the week for more Christmas decorating ideas aimed at families with small kids.
For many of us faith plays a huge role in the celebration of Christmas and is therefore also evident in our decorating. Our Nativity Set is one of the most important Christmas decorations we display in our home because it is a visual reminder to us that although Christmas is a lot of things, it is first about Jesus’ birth.
I had the awesome opportunity to travel to Israel during my senior year of college and it was by far one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I was able to visit Bethlehem and see the Church of the Nativity where tradition says Jesus was born. In a little shop outside of Jerusalem I was able to purchase this beautifully handcrafted olive wood Nativity. I won’t tell you how much it cost (mostly because I can only remember it was enough to make me STRONGLY consider walking away from it), but I will tell you it was a purchase I will never regret. It is beautiful and unique and so personal. As we put the Nativity Set up with Elijah, I was able to tell him a little about my experiences in Israel and emphasize the reality of the place where Jesus was born.
Because children are usually not content to be visual learners alone, I recommend adding the Little People Nativity to your faith-sharing stock of Christmas decorations.
We are reading through The Beginner’s Bible with Elijah and were able to discover with him the Christmas story by using the Little People Nativity. It was a fantastic family moment and I love hearing him role-play the Angel talking to Mary. It goes something like . . . “Congratulations! You’re going to have a baby . . . !” It does this Momma’s heart proud to see Elijah interacting with tangible reminders of Christmas.
What do you do to communicate faith through your decorating??
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