Christmas traditions

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought
by Mary May Larmoyeux

Hope that you had wonderful Thanksgiving holidays!

The day after Thanksgiving my Christmas preparations began. My 8-year-old granddaughter helped me make gingerbread houses. Her 10-year-old cousin will visit in a couple of weeks and we'll also make some gingerbread houses together. With six grandchildren and friends, we have a lot to make!

It takes work to bake and assemble so many gingerbread houses, but they are an important part of our family holiday traditions. Other traditions include making a bed for the nativity figure of Baby Jesus. We put a pile of pine straw by the manger. When someone does a secret act of kindness honoring Jesus, he/she secretly puts a piece of straw in the manger for Jesus' bed. On Christmas morning we put the Christ Child figure on the pine straw bed made to honor our Lord.

Helen Austin, a regular contributor to Encouraging Women with Hearts for their Homes ezine, often makes holiday potpourri (the non-edible type) at this time of year. She shares her recipe in the holiday issue of the free ezine. It also has articles about managing holiday stress, giving exceptional gifts, making wise Christmas choices, and much more.

What are some of your family's Christmas traditions?

Have a wonderful week,
Mary
www.marymaywrites.com
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com

Photo and post © 2012 by Mary May Larmoyeux.

Making a bed for Baby Jesus

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Friday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

When our children were small, one of our favorite Christmas traditions was making a pine straw bed for baby Jesus (instead of pine straw, you could use pieces of hay, balls of cotton, etc.). We’d set up the Nativity with everything except the figure of Jesus. Near the Nativity we filled a small basket with straw.

Whenever family members did secret acts of kindness to honor Christ (such as making someone’s bed, taking out the trash, giving an elderly neighbor cookies, etc.), he/she would secretly place a piece of pine straw on the manger floor. Then, on Christmas Day, the figure of baby Jesus was placed on the bed that had been made as acts of worship.

Doing this helped us all remember the real reason for celebrating Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Tomorrow night Pops and I will get out the Nativity set and decorate the Christmas tree. And, yes, we will have a small basket filled with pine straw. Several of our grandchildren are now old enough to understand secret acts of kindness. So, this year some new little hands will be helping to make baby Jesus’ bed.

(If your grandchildren live out of town, you may want to share this tradition with their parents and send a special basket for the straw.)

He is able,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/
 hoto © Mary May Larmoyeux

What will our grandchildren do with Jesus Christ?

Tuesday's  Grand Connection Thought 

by Mary May Larmoyeux

At church on Sunday, our pastor reminded us that God's presence makes our life powerful. He read 1 Thessalonians 1:8 and said that God wants to echo His life through us. Then he asked "How's your echo?"

Have you ever called into a canyon or cave and heard your voice reverberate—over and over and over again? As our pastor explained, an echo allows our voices to go farther and expands the reach of what we're saying.

As a grandparent, I'm very aware that I have only so many years of life left on this earth. I want my echo to draw my grandchildren to Jesus Christ. I want them to know that I'm a weak person who cannot love the unlovable, cannot serve the needy, cannot care more for others than myself. Yet, when I trust Christ to love through me, He can do those very things ... and more.

And I want my grandchildren to know that the most important decision they will make in their lives is: "What will I decide about Jesus Christ?" Ron Hutchcraft has a great video that explains why deciding this is so important. You may want to watch the short video with an older grandchild.

Also, Dennis and Barbara Rainey share a list of 40 ways that parents can focus on biblical priorities when raising children. I think that these ways apply to grandparents, too.

Have you discovered any online resources that can help children learn more about Christ?

Have a great week,

Mary

Mary May Larmoyeux

co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's Heart

© 2011 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Darko Veselinovic / Dreamstime.com