The Real Meaning of Christmas.

Guess what?! No trips to the ER in almost 24 hours! Isn't it amazing?!

I spent a long day at home with the kiddos. The boys were very good about being my helpers today so I could limit my hobbling to things that were "absolutely necessary" like feeding them and such things:)

My boys were SO concerned about me this morning and tried to pry every gritty little detail out of me. They kept telling me today that they were "so sorry that I hurt my foot." We talked a lot about stitches, scars and cuts today:)

Little Peanut is standing in the middle of the floor a lot lately just looking like she's going to take off. Wonder if she'll start walking in time for Christmas?

 A new favorite game of hers is pulling the towels off the front of the oven door:) She likes to crawl around with them and I find towels all over the place! She's turning into a busy bee:)
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Now that the boys are older, we are more and more trying to emphasize the "giving" part of Christmas, rather than the receiving. We are really trying to teach them about Jesus' love, a love that gives undeservedly, unexpectedly, unselfishly.

A love that surpasses all understanding.

It's something that is hard for even adults to grasp! We decided to find some projects to do with the boys to teach the love of giving and were thrilled when the church we've been attending announced a couple of opportunities to give to children who, otherwise, will receive nothing for Christmas.

We let the boys choose which one they wanted to do and whether they wanted to give to a boy or a girl. They chose a boy:)

Yesterday after school we went out as a family to the store to choose the gifts that would go in the shoebox for "The Boy," as we have been calling him. Over and over, as the boys' eyes were filled with the Christmas-y displays of colorful toys and gadgets they've "always wanted", we had to remind them: "Boys, this is not about you. Today we are buying for The Boy. This is about giving to a little boy who isn't going to get any gifts this year except what we are giving to him. Can you imagine how excited he's going to be when he opens up his box and sees a new toothbrush and gloves and crayons? We need to think about him right now and not ourselves."

They really started to get it after a few admonishments, gently given. And they were admonishments for ourselves as well. Why worry about what we can give, what we don't have or can't buy and just enjoy giving to a little boy and blessing him? The invaluable lessons we all are learning...

So today as I sat in my chair, the boys helped me take off price tags and pack everything from necessities to art supplies to a few little fun toys into the box. They were very careful and "into" their jobs, checking over each item and helping me rearrange so we could fit it all in.

They picked out wrapping paper, cut tape for me and helped me wrap up "The Boy's" special box, which now rests by itself under our Charlie Brown tree. And tonight we said a prayer for our Boy, that he will be blessed this Christmas and know that he is loved, not only by us but by his Savior.

The real meaning of Christmas:)