Christmas for Families

Family ministry, children's ministry, Christmas!! How do they work together? As a Children and Family leader I have been trying to figure out the right mix for years. I have come to the conclusion that there is no ONE right mix. It takes knowing the culture of your families and the design of your church, blend that with what the economy is doing and sprinkle with a little hectic scheduling and you may find the formula.

I have personally come to learn that families (at least ours) want 3 things for Christmas.

1. To make memories with their kids

• They don't want everyone separated out, if they all have to be there, they want to be together
• Memories that can allow parents a moment to disciple their kids and teach them Christmas

2. They don't want another thing to go to

• In the busiest time of year, there are already to few days to make it all happen. So while I love the idea of a potluck and ornament making day, my families just don't have room.

3. They want relevant ways to make Christmas about Jesus for their kids 

• Parents are our best teachers. Let's equip them to do the job right!

So after processing the above ideas I decided to step back a little. We kept our Parents Night Out, a night that parents can shop without the kids and the kids have a great time with us. This happens by tradition on the first Friday each December. 

After that, parents are encouraged to use the advent guide to celebrate at home with their families. This alone is an awesome way to celebrate Christmas all month. But in addition to that, in the midst of shopping and decorating, life application opportunities arise. Parents are awesome at leading their kids in this way, sometimes they just need an idea. 

For the month of December we simply focus each week on a different thing that shares the true Christmas spirit. There are no sign ups, no meetings, and no time commitments. The entire family can participate and parents lead.

Week 1 we focused on compassion. While the stable and manger weren't optimal (or at least we see it that way) they were a gift, a man giving what he had out of compassion. Families were simply encouraged to pack up extra blankets and coats as the winter weather set in and hand them out as they were in town and see the need. (We are in California, so cold weather sets in early December) My kids still love to do this at the age of 11 and 17. 

Week 2 I am calling "random", showing love to complete strangers is something we are called to do. But we are also called to love our neighbors. Our children see us come and go every day, and in most neighborhoods we don't even know who we live around. We are encouraging families to do a random act of kindness in their neighborhood. Bake a treat, take candy canes, or even hand out Christmas cards.  Personally, we sock our neighbors. It's a stocking that gets filled with treats and we try to get it passed to as many homes as possible before Christmas. 

The Giving Experiment

This morning I got to Starbucks 30 minutes before my 9:00 appointment with the idea I would work a little. This is my place, they know my name, my drink, and my schedule. The baristas are awesome, know that I am in ministry and will often have my drink ready when I get to the front of the line on Tuesdays so I can get to staff meeting. It's quite funny when I have a guest with me, and makes me realize just how much of a creature of habit I am.

I sat down with my coffee this morning and opened my laptop only to discover it was dead, and my charger was at home. Not enough time to go to the office, but too much time to just play on my phone. So I decided... It's December, what could be more fun than people watching and maybe a random act of kindness or two to stir up the Christmas spirit? I ran up to the register and gave Emily (the cashier) some cash. I told her to look at me and if I nodded to pay for their drink out of the money and say it was a random Christmas gift from a person who wanted to brighten their day. She loved playing along, and I took my spot.

Minutes later, a woman stressed out, dragging two toddlers and a crying baby came in. Of course I nodded, the lady smiled and looked around the room as she waited for her drink. She even asked a few people around her if anyone knew who did it. A few minutes later a man, clearly well off, dressed in a full suit, long coat and hat came in. I was intrigued to see how he would respond, so I gave the signal and she told him a random stranger paid for his drink. He laughed and said he could cover it! Really? It was free? Just when I was in disbelief, he said to Emily, "well I don't want to steal a blessing, so take this 5$ and do the same for someone else". Ha! He paid it forward and you could see it made his day.

Over the course of 30 minutes 9 people came in and had a random act of kindness given to them. The part of this that fascinated me was the change of the room. A room that every morning is quiet, people flipping through their phones keeping to themselves had transformed into this place of buzzing friendly conversations. Watching the register to see if it would continue, who got it, and trying to crack a code! There was eye contact and laughter, few phones were out, and people were interacting. I don't think anyone ever caught on, and I had a blast. The last lady that was paid for turned to me and said, "I just moved here, this is quite the friendly place". It gave me an opportunity to invite her to our Christmas Eve services. Who knows, maybe all of that was for her?

It never ceases to amaze me how giving, in any form, leads to contagious joy.

Best 40 bucks I have spent in a long time.

Merry Christmas All!