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Northeast Bible Church
19185 FM 2252
Garden Ridge, TX 78266
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December 2009 |
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The Christmas season probably means different things to different members of your family. As parents, you likely feel overwhelmed by your growing to-do list. Younger children feel like December can't go by quickly enough, as they keep adding to their wish lists. Teenagers, meanwhile, may feel like they've outgrown some of your family's Christmas traditions. The good news is that the holidays offer the most focused family time that kids will experience all year-and that traditions can change along with your family.
With a little intentional planning, you can make Christmas both fun and meaningful for your teenagers. Most importantly, you can emphasize that the holiday is about Jesus coming to earth to save us. Next, you can move the focus from "self" and receiving gifts to other people, serving, and giving. Instead of packing the Christmas season with constant activities, step back and enjoy some quiet times together. Talk about your favorite Christmas memories as a child. Spend some time with older or younger relatives. Complete holiday preparations such as shopping and baking together.
You can also start new traditions as your kids grow up. For example, decorate and hang stockings, and then fill them with affirmations, notes, and small goodies. Or do a "white elephant" gift exchange and then talk about the gifts we offer to God and what might be on God's Christmas wish list. When kids learn that Christmas isn't all about "me," they're ready to go deeper and experience true Christmas joy.
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Reflect on these Advent meditations, adapted from "In Joyful Hope," a collection of Henri Nouwen's writings:
1. Waiting with patience-Waiting patiently isn't like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise. It's an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we await.
2. Waiting with discipline-It requires discipline to let God and not the world be the Lord of our minds. Each day, society bombards us with images and words that demand our attention. Through prayer, we open ourselves to the power of God's grace.
3. Waiting with faith-Faith is the deep trust that God's love is stronger than all the world's anonymous powers and can transform us from victims of darkness into servants of life.
4. Waiting with a promise-Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus isn't empty waiting. We have a promise in our hearts that makes what we're waiting for already present.
(Creative Communications for the Parish)
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Check out these insights into what teenagers really want this Christmas.
* Last year, a poll asking teenagers what they wanted for Christmas had some surprising results. Although money and electronics topped the list, kids also said they wanted "something homemade just for me" and "something I will cherish for all my life."
(associatedcontent.com)
* In Group Magazine's annual survey of almost 30,000 Christian teenagers, 52% of kids said "Spending time with my parents is one of my favorite things to do." But almost 40% said "I'm around my parents a lot, but we rarely have long, enjoyable conversations." Ellen Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute says, "Not only is the amount of time the parents spend with their kids important, but what happens in that time is also important.… Particularly important to young people is that there's time to hang around together."
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* Watch favorite Christmas movies together, or go to the movies on Christmas Day.
