Day 4 of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways (with Jeannie Cunnion)
Winners announced here! Congratulations!
*Give Away has Ended*
It’s Day 4 of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!
If you’re just joining in, catch up with us by starting with Day One here.
My guest today is my friend, author, speaker, and just about the sweetest woman in the world, Jeannie Cunnion. She has kids whose ages range from the potty training stage to soon the drivers training age! Check out her creative idea to do with children below!
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It was early in my parenting, probably right around the time our three boys were about 6, 4, and 2, that I watched them tear through packages and barely finish opening one gift before they were tearing through the next, and I realized I wasn’t giving my kids what they really wanted for Christmas. While I loved seeing their faces light up as they raced down the stairs to find endless packages, filled with most of the things they’d asked for, I also found myself quickly frustrated by New Years day when they could barely recall most of the gifts they’d just been given. Yes, all of that stuff they absolutely had to have to be happy now sat abandoned at the bottom of the toy box, to be remembered no more.
They were learning early that there is nothing in this world that can satisfy us like the love of Jesus. Of course they wouldn’t have said it that way, but all of that “stuff” doesn’t bring us joy- or real, lasting joy, at least. It only brings some temporary thrill. It was then I that knew I wanted to give my kids more. So much more. But not a material kind of more.
I wanted to give my kids a Christmas that is centered around the miracle, not the material. I wanted them to remember the anticipation, the thrill, the joy of celebrating the Christmas miracle.
Love was born. Christ has come. The greatest gift has been given. We can tear up the naughty and nice lists. Jesus has done for you and me what you could never do for ourselves. We now have God’s unfailing and forever love. So come. Come let us adore Him!
So one thing we began doing with our kids is a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas Eve. Instead of putting out the list of the things we want Santa to give us because we have been “good enough” we bake a cake and sing happy birthday to Jesus. We blow out the candles and thank Him for leaving Heaven to come to earth to rescue us and redeem us.
Well, several years ago, after the candles were blown out and my boys were licking the frosting off their cake, my son Brennan turned to me with a curious face and asked, “But Mom, if it’s Jesus’s birthday, where are His presents? What did we give to Him?” What a privilege it was to tell my son, “What Jesus wants is our love, our trust, our hearts. He wants us. That is the best gift we could give Jesus.”
Even as our boys have grown, and we’ve added one more little guy to the crew, our kids, who now range in age from 14 to 2, enjoy this sweet tradition as a way to keep our focus on what we truly celebrate when we wake up on Christmas morning.
Have you–or someone you know–ever held a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas? What other things could you do to hold such an event? Let us know in the comments.
Christmas Blessings,
Jeannie
Day 4 Giveaway
Jeannie is giving away a copy of her book, Mom Set Free: Find Relief from the Pressure to Get It All Right, along and her Bible study book, Mom Set Free: Good News for Moms Who are Tired of Trying to be Good Enough.
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We have always done a Happy Birthday Jesus cake or brownies- having a son on the Autism Spectrum, this is just the simplest way for us..
Our church has a birthday party for Jesus every year the weekend before Christmas Eve. We also sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Day,
When my boys were little our church held a birthday party for Jesus. We get our boys 3 gifts just like Jesus got.
We’ve never thrown a birthday party, , but my family used to draw names each week during advent and seek to bless that person as many times as possible that week, for each act of service, kind and encouraging word, and blessing, we would place a piece of straw in a baby cradle, as a sign of doing it for Jesus. I love this little addition to the Christmas holiday to help us be focused on the real reason for the season. I plan to continue this with my little family someday!
We make Jesus a birthday cake, but I also live the idea of family members doing kind things for each other as part of the celebration.
Every year I bake a birthday cake for Jesus and my 3 year old loves to blow out the candles, remembering the meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate is so important to my husband and I. I pray that my two little boys let me do this forever and they get excited about it!
When the family came from out of state for Christmas, we used to gather all the kids together, read the story of Luke and have a birthday cake for Jesus.
We have 5 sons and have been making very beautiful baby Jesus birthday cakes for many years now. I too didn’t want the focus to be on Santa and what he would bring. Some families do 3 gifts, like the 3 wise men sort of thought process. We have also made a big deal out of donating food and toys to others. Merry Christmas to us all as we seek to be closer to him.
Me and my kids make a birthday cake for Jesus and sing Happy birthday to Him every year. This year we have cupcakes. We celebrate Jesus first thing in the morning so our focus starts with Him
When I was growing up we had a cake for Jesus and Celebrated his Birthday!!
I’ve never officially had a birthday party for Jesus but we’ve given Him a gift by giving to or serving a charity
We also enjoyed this tradition when our kids were little. We always found a ministry to donate to as a gift for Jesus. A couple of times I had a birthday party for Jesus and the kids invited their friends. They were to bring a canned good for the food pantry as a gift. We read the Christmas story and made ginger bread houses and my husband made small mangers. I bought little baby dolls (like 1 inch) and the children put hay in the mangers and wrapped their baby Jesus in “swaddling” clothes and laid him in the manger :)
We haven’t done the Birthday Party, but years ago when our girls were young, we started having them write letters to Jesus (instead of Santa) to tell Him what they were going to give Him for His birthday for the next year. Each Christmas Eve we would read the letter from the year before, and then we would replace them with their new letters in tiny Jesus Stockings, one for each girl. To this day we like to go back an read the old letters once in a while.
I’d like to do that birthday party and would this year except we will be out of town staying at my brothers that night. One way to add “presents for Jesus “ would be to take the catalog from https://christianaidministries.org/ and pick a gift to send. Samaritans purse I believe also has a similar option.
That is such a wonderful idea! I think it would be fun to host a party and everyone brings a gift that can be given to an organization that helps those in need.
What an awesome idea! We have a Christmas birthday party for Jesus every year at my church, I have never thought about doing one at home maybe it is time for a new tradition.
That’s a great tradition and memory for your children. What a blessing! I always thought of doing that but never actually committed. I’m sorry now that I didn’t.
A birthday party for Jesus sounds like an awesome idea.
One of our local charities has a birthday party for Jesus each year….very sweet to watch.
Yes, my kids loved making birthday cards for Jesus when they were little.
This was absolutely endearing to read – I think all of us should be throwing Jesus a birthday party! Imagine the type of holiday Christmas would truly turn into? Thank you for sharing your family’s new tradition. I’m going to do this with my husband and our fur-babies! Happy birthday, Jesus <3
We are planning a Christmas Party for Jesus at our church on December 23rd.
As I grandma, I’m always looking for ways to teach my grand girls about God.
We have a Fisher Price Nativity set that the kids play with and we will be sharing the Christmas story with that on Christmas Eve as well as the birthday cake for Jesus. We have 5 year twin grandchildren and two young nephews who will also be here.
When my children were younger, I taught a Child Evangelism Fellowship “Good News Club.” So, every year at our family gathering at home, I would teach the Christmas Story — flannel-graph board and all! The story would also include the gospel message [as there was unsaved family present with us, too].
We would also sing the precious, religious Christmas carols — my dear Mother would play the piano.
(We did the “Happy Birthday, Jesus” cake one year, but that tradition did not catch on.)
You are so right! All the materialism and consumerism of the holiday is a perfect picture of how empty “things” leave us feeling! Christmas Day is just a short break, from shopping and people will be lined up for the “after Christmas sales” the very next day! A perfect picture of the “emptiness” we are born with that only The Christ of Christmas can fill! ! My children have planned and had birthday parties for Jesus, and we always included charitable giving a gift as unto The Lord. It blesses my heart to now see my now grown children carrying out these traditions with their families.