On the Ninth Day of Christmas…

On the ninth day of Christmas ——– I turn into a child.
It’s around this time each year that I get incredibly excited over putting the ornaments on the tree, being with family, reading the Christmas story, going to the Christmas Eve service, and driving around to look at lights. I even like the fruitcake cookies that seem to show up at every Christmas church potluck. I especially love opening up my ornament from my mom for this Christmas and placing it on the tree.
(Sidenote: Parents – my mom started an ornament series when I was born and gives me one each year. It was such a cool piece of my childhood to now put on my tree at my house! Do this for your kids. Start a series or choose an ornament that signifies something about them for that year and write the year on it! It’s never too late to begin.)
Most of all, I love blaming my excitement over Christmas for what has become one of my favorite traditions: helping the wise men move east. I would guess that my mom probably doesn’t love this tradition as much as I do, since it means that the wise men from her beloved nativity scene end up all over the house – in drawers, on counters, in closets, on the top ledge of the shower, on the floor marching through the dining room.
Guys, it took the wise men a LOOONNNG time to get to Jesus. Most scholars think He was a few months old when the wise men came to Him. It is only fitting that they make a LOOONNG journey throughout the house toward Jesus. Every morning I move them and wait for others to find them. It’s almost like Elf on a Shelf, but way better because you don’t have to clean up the mess that you made while the kids were sleeping and it gives you another opportunity to talk about Jesus! As the wise men travel through your house, remind kids that the wise men traveled hundreds of miles to see Jesus because they knew that He was God’s Son and that He had come to save the world. The wise men may not have made it to the manger, but they still traveled a long way to Jesus’ house to worship Him!
What is your favorite tradition that your family does during the Christmas season?