Christmas and Contentment

It was without a doubt another memorable Christmas in our household. A wonderful part of our tradition is waking up to gather around the fireplace feeling the warmth and amber radiance of the fire where each family member gets to empty the content of their stockings one by one. After the goodies are revealed and the stockings are restuffed, we transition to a scrumptious Christmas breakfast lovingly prepared by my wife, Laurie. We pause to give thanks to Him who is the giver of the greatest gift to us – Jesus. Conversation flows. Excitement and anticipation of what is to come (you know, the unwrapping of those inconspicuous items under the tree) oozes from every pore of our three children.

After every morsel of breakfast was eaten and clean up completed, we gathered once more by the fireplace to read the Christmas story and for a time of prayer. Our children are old enough where they can now participate in the reading of the Christmas story. In fact, we started this part of our family tradition three Christmases ago when our middle child, Jaz, asked if he could read the Christmas story. That just delighted our hearts. So now, we all participate in our reading time, even our 6 year-old son, who was brimming with Christmas energy. Prayer time is also very special because it sets our hearts with an attitude of gratitude for the blessings that God has showered upon us; and further acknowledges and reaffirms Jesus’ rightful and central place as the reason we celebrate Christmas. After our prayer time we would gather around the Christmas tree to savor the unwrapping of gifts as each child and parent wait on one another to view the unveiling of gifts.

This Christmas was especially memorable, when Jaz opened our prayer time asking that God give him contentment with what he will receive. That just blew us away. Whoa! What a minute. You just stole our parental prayer thunder. Mom and dad were supposed to pray for that. It’s one thing for me as a parent to pray for my children's state of contentment, but hearing it come from our 9 year-old son - in his own words; from his heart........... gave us a God-moment experience that we will always treasure.