The Reason For the Season

When I was 18 years old, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 6 weeks to live.  This is devastating news for any child, but for me, it incited a rejection of the faith I had been raised to rely upon.

I found myself wracked with doubts, “How could my God, the God I had been raised to believe was so truly GOOD, how could he do this?” “How was it possible that someone so magnificently kind could be suffering so much and be facing limited time with her not-nearly-grown children?”

My mom recovered.  Many credit the power of prayer.  A woman with a death sentence was, upon being opened during surgery, deemed cancer free.  She came home.

But still I was shaken.

It has only been as I have begun my own family, having experienced the miracle of childbirth, that the light of faith has re-entered my life. With each day I have the privilege of watching my children grow, I feel my pleasure in prayer returning, my faith in God resurfacing.  I have a desire to share my God with my small people.

Now that they are turning into small people, we talk about God a lot.  They learn about God in school, but my hope is that they can see the beauty of God in their family and in the faith my husband and I hope to share.

I have always been in awe of people who wear their faith like a comfortable coat, slipping it off to share with anyone in need.  Sharing my thoughts with you, like this?  Well, this is a first for me.

So, this holiday season - we made a switch.  We are talking about Jesus more than ever.  Delaney and Cooper will get three presents each from us - as that is how many Jesus received on his Birthday.

And, we decided to have a Birthday party, complete with singing, cookies to celebrate and a story to walk them through the miracle of the holiday.  I wanted to do the party ‘early’ - I’m (hopefully) smart enough to recognize that three and five year olds will have a hard time focusing on Christmas morning - and I wanted their full attention.

We used a kit from DaySpring (a division of Hallmark) to celebrate.  Dayspring has a brand called ReallyWoolly - using a lamb (Gracie) and a sheep (Jacob) to make the birthday event engaging for kids. The kit includes plates, napkins, balloons, nosiemakers (a favorite in our house), story-telling-sticker books for up to 8 and access codes for an online ‘Really Woolly” experience. (check out a demo)

The small dude and I baked cookies (the kids prefer cookies to cake and we figured Jesus wouldn’t mind).  As soon as Delaney made it home from school, the party started.

And yes, they did sing too.

I have to confess, there is something very special about seeing my children begin to understand the miracle of love associated with Christmas.

I’m excited to have online codes to share with you - so you and your small people can jump online to experience a Birthday Celebration with ReallyWoolly.  Be one of the first eight people to comment - and I will email you the access code and instructions.

I was given this birthday kit to share this celebration with my children.  The opinions and celebration shared in the post are mine alone and are not influenced by the gift.