When the Childhood Magic of Christmas is Gone

It's almost Christmas. 

The first real, sticking snow in our area rests on the evergreens around our house.

I can see the magical, white blanket continue across the road onto the rolling hills of our neighbor's horse pasture.  We will have snow for Christmas.

Our Christmas tree is set up, the living room rearranged for the holidays, and a few wrapped presents sit beneath its limbs.  The rest of the wrapping will be done today.

The stockings are hung, the nativity scene is set up, and the advent calendar is almost complete.

But sometimes, it still doesn't feel like Christmas.

The general consensus among my generation is simple: Christmas, at some point, stopped feeling like the Christmas we remembered.  The magic has disappeared.

But what kind of magic did we feel then that we're missing now? 

A commercialized frenzy of viewing, asking for, and receiving the newest toys?

The joy of fresh powder long before we were handed snow shovels?

The thrill of waiting for a creepy old guy to break into our homes while we slept?  To be honest, I'm really not sure how my paranoid-self ever accepted this story without question.

Now that I reflect on the past excitement of Christmas, I can divide it into two categories: one is timeless and true, traditions based on the story of Christmas which hasn't changed in 2,000 years; the latter is gone as soon as you catch your parents putting presents under the tree at 1:30 AM.

It doesn't surprise me to hear that my generation no longer feels the joy of Christmas when the joy they were sold as kids is built only on the love of presents and a twisted story of Saint Nicholas.  It only sets up children for disappointment later when they realize that the only traditions they know are as superficial as the mall santa's beard.  

This is not to say that you shouldn't teach your kids to appreciate the fun of Christmas, or watch Frosty the Snowman movies, or watch them experience the excitement of "Santa gifts."  But no matter which traditions you make with your kids, old or new, please teach your kids what Christmas is really about.  It is about Jesus Christ, who was born in a manger, who came to earth to live the life we couldn't and die the death we deserved.

Take them to church on Christmas.

Read Luke 2 with them.

Tell them more about Jesus than you do about Santa Claus.  

Teach your children what peace on earth looks like: Christ in the manger. 

Teach your children what real love looks like: Christ on the cross.  

Share with them the joy that is true and the peace which surpasses all understanding.

These things can't be outgrown.

- Grace