As a father I went into this Christmas season hoping to do something more meaning than past years for our family. Sue and I had planned to get the usual amount of gifts for our children and do all the typical traditions that we as a family always enjoy but I wanted to add another level of spirituality to our Christmas this year.
I prayed about it and spent quite a bit of brain power trying to come up with something but as I got ready to read the Christmas passage on Christmas morning I had less to offer then Linus from the Peanuts cartoon.
So I read Luke 2 aloud like every other Christmas morning and when I was done I set down my Bible and started to others for their reflections on the Christmas Story.
I didn't know what to expect by opening the topic up to the group. Although there isn't a sinigular correct answer but there are some wrong answers to the question "how does the Christmas story impact you?"
Our youngest daughter, Sara, was first in line to answer the question. She quickly and without reservation said that this year the truth of Christmas had taken on extra meaning for her. She said her 8th grade Bible class went over the story in great detail and that the study had made it seem more real. "It wasn't just the same old story."
Wow. Once again I was learning from a 14 year girl. I was overjoyed. My prayers had been answered. The Chapin family was going to add another level of spirituality to our Christmas this year.
But we weren't done yet.
Grab the Kleenex.
I still had 2 more children left to share.
Next up was Anne, our oldest daughter. She said she always found Mary to be the most interesting. "Mary is a girl about my age and here she is the this strange situation."
I thought to myself this is getting better and better. My young daughter linking with the young girl in the story. We had from 2 of the 3 children and both had moved me.
The last of my children to share was our son, Mike. He quickly added that the part of the story that stood out most to him was Joseph. Mike expressed how hard it must have been for Joseph to do the right thing in such a tough spot. Joseph could have just walked away from Mary but that was wrong. Once again I was moved by the power of God.
My 16 year old son was relating to the part of the story about what it meant to be a true man.
I was now just sitting there shaking my head. I couldn't believe it. My three children had all just shared from their hearts and in the process expanded the Christmas story for everybody in the room. Plus they relayed their stories to me in a way that blew me away. Each had selected from themselves that exact lesson I would have wanted them to learn. (If I used the word proud I would tell you right now about how proud I am of our children. Look back a couple of blogs to "A Group of Lions" to see way I don't say proud.)
Emmanuel added his reflections on the wiseman from the east and Sue pointed out how well the whole story fit together but I was the reflections of our three children that had impacted me the most. My prayers had been answered. Not just my immediate prayer of adding another level of spirituality but my parenthood long prayer of raising children that sought after God.
We continued to have a great conversation about the Christmas Story and how it impacted all of us and discussed it from many different angles but it was our children's opening statements that carried the day.
I got some really great gifts from a lot of different people. But the 15 minutes after breakfast were better then the sweaters, books, shoes, ties, luggage and other things all added together.
I close this blog with the same comment that I used to close the conversation on Christmas morning. My favorite part about the Christmas Story is that it is just the beginning. Christmas leads to Easter morning.
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