Jesus is the Reason

The kiddos are snuggled in their beds in their new pajamas while hubby and I finish up some last-minute jobs before we retire for the night as well.  It is our family tradition to open one gift Christmas Eve, and that one gift is always a pair of new pajamas.  Now that the bigger kids are old enough to remember past years, this is one tradition they look forward to.  Even though they know what they are going to open, at least they don't know what they will look like.  Unless, of course, you are Micah (our nearly four-year-old) who is always with me when I go shopping.  Since I was choosing everyone's pajamas while he and Mackenzie (our baby) waited in the shopping cart, I went ahead and let him decide which ones he wanted.  Why not?  They still got wrapped, and he was still just as excited to open them as everyone else.  But, that kid lives in excited mode.  It is just one of the descriptions of a three-old boy.

We will be spending Christmas Day at home with just our own little family since our closest family is more than 1,000 miles away.  I guess since our own family really isn't too little anymore, it is going to be a houseful even without anyone else.  I am looking forward to the sounds that await us tomorrow morning.... the excited chatter of kids who just can't wait to open their gifts and the beautiful, traditional reading of Luke 2 by Daddy.  Our Brianna memorized that passage of Scripture in her 3rd grade class this fall, so she has asked if she can quote it for us.  There is nothing quite like the sound of hearing your children quote the Bible.

Christmas evening we really will have a houseful, as we are hosting the Golden State Baptist College students who were not able to go home for Christmas.  They will be coming to our home for their Christmas dessert (pies and cheesecake, anyone?).  We are greatly anticipating that time with them, as they really have become family to us now that we have dedicated our lives to teaching them! Another tradition our family has that they will get to participate in with us is that of having a birthday cake and happy birthday song for Jesus.  We even bought lots of candles for them to blow out with our kids.  If anything, they will have the opportunity to learn a new tradition that they might like to implement in their own families one day.

I want to wish each of you a very merry Christmas as you celebrate with your loved ones.  Not only is Jesus the reason for the season, He is THE reason for everything we do.  May we all remember to keep  Him at the center of our celebrations.  Merry Christmas!