Merry Christmas

I love this time of year. There is snow on the ground and anticipation in the air. The holiday decorations are out and lights twinkle everywhere. The house smells of baking happiness and the kids want to do something fun as a family or take goodies to others.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the white stocking. The white stocking is the Christ child’s stocking…and the story behind it (that I’ll summarize) is that all the other stockings are filled and presents are given out at Christmas time, but one stocking was left forgotten–the Christ child’s, whose holiday it is that we celebrate.

To correct this wrong, each family member writes a gift that they will give to Christ in the coming year on a slip of paper–a goal they will work on, an attribute they will try to develop, service they will give, and so forth. We commit to do whatever it is we wrote down, then stick it in the white stocking to pull out the next year and see if we did it.

Since it’s easy to forget, I’ve started keeping the white stocking out in a drawer that I can take out occasionally and say, “Do you all remember what you were going to do for Jesus this year?” And if we’ve forgotten, we remind ourselves and get back on track keeping our commitments so we have given a gift to our Lord and Savior who has done everything for us.

There are tons of fun traditions involving games, presents, yummy treats, and friends and family, but this one has remained our family’s favorite. It doesn’t require money; all it needs is part of our heart. We can’t skip it…or it wouldn’t be Christmas.

Do you have any traditions in your family that bring Christ more fully into your lives?