Day 3 of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways (with Courtney Joseph)
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It’s Day 3 of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!
If you’re just joining in, be sure to catch up by starting at Day One here.
My guest today is my dear friend, blogger, author, and creator of Good Morning Girls,ย ย Courtney Joseph.ย I am so thrilled she chose to share her clever idea with all of you. Ever since she told me about it a few years back, it has been one of my favorite Christmastime ideas ever! Here’s Courtney…
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As a child I loved driving around and looking at Christmas lights with my family.ย So when my children were born, we continued this tradition only we added a fun spiritual twist to it. Every Christmas Eve, I prepare the kids for our drive by having them color about 10 coloring pages of the nativity.
After they finish coloring their pictures, I write on their pictures these words:
โJesus is the reason for the season!
Thank you for displaying your nativity!โ
Then we put on our Christmas pajamas, crank up Christmas music, and begin driving around in search of baby Jesus!ย ย I wish I could explain how exciting the anticipation is in the car.ย As each beautiful house passes by, we examine it hard in search of an angel, a star, or any sign of a nativity.
Then it happens! A house with a nativity is spotted and the celebration erupts in the car as we clap and cheer at the sight of our Savior Jesus!
Then we pull over and one of the kids (cautiously and safely) hops out of the car and slips a thank you note into their mail box.ย Then we continue on in our journey in search of more nativities, until all of our pictures are handed out.
We began this tradition back when my kids were preschoolers and they still love to do this even now as teenagers! ย The only change we have made is that they no longer are interested in coloring pictures, so now I buy Christmas cards with a picture of the nativity on it and I have them write out the thank you note inside.
If you are looking for a new and meaningful tradition to try out this year, I canโt recommend this highly enough.ย There are so many spiritual analogies you can talk about while you drive in the car – such as how God wants us to seek him and that when we seek him, we will find him, when we seek him with all of our heart. (Jeremiah 29:13) Or how the Wise Men must have felt when they followed the star that led them to baby Jesus.ย Or how nothing is as beautiful as the sight of our Savior Jesus and how God delights in the praises of His people.
What is an idea you have done, or have heard about and would like to try, that focuses on the real reason for the season? Letโs celebrate the birth of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
Keep walking with the King,
Courtney
Day 3 Giveaway
Courtney is giving away a copy of her Be Still 3-month Habit Tracker, along her Bible studies on the books of Ecclesiastes and Ruth.
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Courtney Joseph is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Evangelism and Discipleship. Sheย loves Godโs Word and is passionate about helping women to get into it daily. ย She is blogging through the Bible, one chapter a day, at ย WomenLivingWell.orgย , the Home of Good Morning Girls. ย Courtney has published over 18 Bible Studies, her most recent onesย ranking number 1 for Christian Devotionals on Amazon.ย You can find all of her Bible studies, along with links to her free resources and videos on her blog and you can follow Courtneyโs ministry onย Facebook,ย Pinterest,ย Youtub
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Each year we read Luke 2, focusing on the wonder of Christโs birth.
Love this idea! I also think giving to those less fortunate is a good way to celebrate Godโs gift to us.
My answer would have to be the same as in my last comment. The tradition of my husband reading the story of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve, each year. It just slows down and points us back to the real โReason for the seasonโ .
Great ideal.
I like this idea and may try it. We love to look at Christmas lights.
This has to be one of the best ideas of tradition around the holidays Iโve heard! I only wish I wouldโve known sooner!! However, itโs never too late. We have our advent calendar and opening a Christmas gift on Christmas Eve, sharing what we are grateful for this season of celebration. Truly blessed for time with family as we celebrate Jesusโ birth. Thank you!
Wow Courtney! What a great idea!?
Such a great idea! I love it. We will have to incorporate it into our Christmas
Courtney and Karen. Thank you.
Okay, we are definitely going to be adding that to our traditions this year!! That sounds like a fun way to enjoy the Christmas lights, have fun, and keep the focus on the real reason for the season!!
Thanks for the suggestions!
Love this idea!! It would be my choice.
This would be great if started when kids were little. They are so open to this at that stage of life. Not sure how my teenage grandson would take to this. Love that you put a thank you note in mailbox!
God Bless!
The book of ruth is my favorite book in the bible!!!
Absolutely great idea!!! I love it! We might advent candle and attend Christmas Eve service.
There is something called the Giving Manager where you have a wooden manager and every time someone does an act of service or kind deed for someone else they get to add a piece of straw to the manager. Then at Christmas you can look back and see just how much you spread joy and kindness around.
We came across the Wooden Manger book. It encourages games to focus on serving. For each act of service, a piece of hay is added to the manger. By Christmas morning the manger is (hopefully) full and ready for the baby Jesus to arrive. It’s great to see the kiddos excited about serving one another!
We wrap 12 books for each kid, relating to the real meaning of Christmas and some fun ones and they open one up each day for the 12 days before Christmas
We wake up make breakfast โpancakesโ and pray to tell Jesus happy birthday then we all eat. After breakfast we open the one present from Jesus no Santa then we get the cake out and sing happy birthday. Then we go to worship service. After service itโs lunch time with the extended family for presents from family after presents itโs more cake and another happy birthday song for Jesus. Once lunch is over around 4 itโs dark outside so we go to Santa Claus lights and drive through before dinner
We bake cupcakes and have a happy birthday party for Jesus on Christmas Eve.