Should you use a real tree or an artificial one?
The real question to ask is, what will make for better, more meaningful memories? If the hassle and maintenance of a real tree puts you off, it may be better to use an artificial tree and focus on creating memories around decorating it. If you love the smell of pine or the experience of going out to pick a tree, then enjoy it with the whole family!
We, on the other hand, have found an alternative that brings a smile to the face of everyone in our house: a homemade tree! We roll out a large piece of paper, and we all work together to color a “beautiful” tree that then gets hung up on the wall. Our kids are a bit young for the “beautiful” part to be realized in full, but the tree is beautiful in its own way because it contains a little bit of everybody on it, and the time spent creating it gets buried in our minds as a wonderful experience we’ll remember for a very long time.
Bringing Meaning and Purpose to Your Traditions
My wife already spoke about us receiving The Shepherd’s Treasure this year and using that every day, but we’ve decided to step it up a notch. You see, it’s very easy to get caught up in the worldly aspects of this holiday, so we wanted a tradition that is meaningful to bring Christ back into the Christmas picture, so each day, our shepherd will be found holding a piece of paper (or several so the each child may have one), and on that paper is a picture of a Christmas tree ornament with a reference to a Bible passage. We’ll read the passage as a means of orienting our hearts toward Christ, and then we’ll let the kids color in the ornaments and tape them up on the tree, making it more and more beautiful throughout the Advent season.
Sadly, I’ve been pretty slow to get these ornaments all ready, so we’ll be missing quite a few this year, but I plan to get them all finished and have them up and ready for you all to use next year if you wish!
So what are you doing to bring out the true meaning of Christmas with your family? Do you have any traditions you’d like to share? If so, let me hear them down in the comments! If you don’t have any, take a look around the internet and around your home and try to make some time to bring Christ back into Christmas in a memorable way this year!