From Susan Hillis:
At our house we are beginning all the Hillis Christmas traditions, and I thought I would pass along a few in case there may be some of them you too would enjoy! Let me start with a story.....
My new acquaintance asked in a rather flitty way, "So, how do you do Christmas at YOUR house with 12 people? Is it just chaos on Christmas morning?" I answer, "No, it's really NOT chaos. We actually really enjoy the Christmas season at our house." She goes on to her next question, "Do you just have mountains of presents to open?" And I answer, "No, we don't have mountains of presents; each of us gives a few. We actually put everybody's name into a basket twice, and then go around and draw names in early December. Each of us makes two gifts for the two folks in the family whose names we draw. Because we make our gifts, our time over the holidays is typically spent at home with each other, working together on our gifts instead of out at malls shopping. A few of the more creative ones help the ones who struggle to come up with ideas. Over the years we have had folks make toe rings, quilts, albums, creative board games, write and illustrate books, sweatshirts, jewelry, home made candy, paintings, sculpture, book shelves, ceramics. And of course there is Ksusha - she picked Brian's name 3 years in a row and painted him the same piggy bank each year - just made it different colors. I guess she thought accountants would like to safeguard their funds!
From the time Cristi was just a toddler, I began to look for ideas that would help the Christmas season be lived out, practically, as a time to celebrate Jesus' birth, rather than as a time marked by dread of the materialistic flavor that is so ubiquitous in America. And I would say this-- the best habits we have adopted replace numbers with faces. Rather than the numbers on a price tag or the number of gifts to buy, we try to focus on faces...that is, on loving God, loving people and loving each other. Here are some habits we repeat, year after year, in those categories.
Loving God
- Jesse Tree - Making a simple felt Jesse tree (you can google it) involves purchasing felt for the wall hanging and 25 decorated felt ornaments, that each symbolize an important story in the gospel message, from Genesis to Revelation. Everyone in the family can help make the tree and ornaments, which comes with scripture passages and short devotionals that can be read every night of advent. The Jesse tree has become a family heirloom, as year after year, we reread the passages and take turns hanging the ornaments. Of course there are discussions which can become heated arguments, about who gets to put up the beautiful white feathery dove that symbolizes the peace of the Holy Spirit. And we get a chance to talk about how it is just these kind of fights that make us need the peace this dove symbolizes!
- Advent Wreath - We often have an advent wreath that we light each Sunday, with the 4 candles, symbolizing hope, love, joy, and peace, and the fifth one lit on
Christmas day symbolizing Christ's birth.
- Christmas Books - Every year we buy a new Childrens' Book; some of our favorites are Alabaster's Song, The Crippled Lamb, The Candy Cane, Christmas in a Shoe Box, Little House on the Prairie Christmas, A Child's Christmas at St. Nicolas Circle. What are some that you have enjoyed? Would you share them in the comments so we can all benefit.
- Acting out the Luke 2 Christmas story from the Message - Kids love doing this on Christmas Day - in our house the most cherished role for some reason has always been...not Mary, not Joseph, not the angel, but...the donkey who gets to crawl in on all 4's, carting Mary on his or her back! Towels with ties do great for the shepherds; bathrobes become the garb of Mary and Joseph, with a baby doll for baby Jesus. And a few safety pins easily transform a white sheet into an angel's costume. And Burger King crowns picked up earlier in the week do great for crowns for the 3 kings.
Loving People
- Visitors- We love the book, Christmas at St. Nicholas Circle, which reminds us all that the best part of Christmas is loving the least of these, who cannot necessarily reciprocate. For a number of years now we tend to spread the word that the Hillis Home is open for visitors during the 2 to 3 weeks that school is out - and we tend to count the numbers of folks who come, with a little figure scribbled on the calender for each day we are out of school. Many years we have smiled to see more than 100 visits during these few weeks! We talk a lot about loving every one who comes through our door as a way to love the Lord - and read and discuss Matthew 25 about the sheep being those who loved well.
- The Gold Box - For many years, we have a large gift box wrapped in beautiful gold paper with a slit on the top. We are to do small acts of unseen kindness and then write it on a note and put it in the box. Anything from that Colossians 3 list of, 'clothe yourselves with kindness, humility, compassion, forgiveness, and patience' fits here. We talk about how wonderful it is to do something that only Jesus sees. It is His gift. No one ever opens this box - we just keep it, adding to it year after year.
- Serving - Often at the end of the day on Christmas, we go downtown to help clean up from the Hosea Williams Feed the Homeless Feast that serves 10,000 folks every Christmas Day in Atlanta. It is a joy, always, to feel that we did something practical to serve others....it always gives a chance to talk about this being a gift for Jesus that He loves!
Loving Each Other
- Gifts - So I started out sharing how we make gifts for each other. On Christmas morning after we open stockings, have breakfast, read Luke 2 and thank God for His gift, Brian asks who wants to be the first to give the gifts they made. And one by one we get to enjoy seeing the special treats that have typically have time as a bigger ingredient than money. As the kids grow older and have jobs, some of them prefer to purchase gifts now, and some still make them.
- Time - But mostly what we do is simply spent time together - whether its games outside, from soccer to baseball to Frisbee, or inside, like board games and puzzles. The outings to Stone Mountain and Mount Arabia and ice skating also build fun memories!
- Music - We typically sing a carol or two every night, and on several occasions we have acted out the 12 days of Christmas, with each of donning a costume to match our day....obviously none of the boys wanted 'nine ladies dancing.' But they all loved '6 geese a laying' as they pretended to run around laying eggs! An old CD that may still be available somewhere has the song that our kids to this day remember best of all, and the words provide a fitting way to end this post:
I'M GONNA WRAP UP MYSELF FOR CHRISTMAS
AND TIE ME WITH A BIG RED BOW
THAT'S WHAT I'M GIVING TO JESUS, IT'S A PRESENT HE'LL LIKE I KNOW
MY MOMMY KEEPS TRYING TO TELL ME,
IT WON'T DO ANY GOOD TO PRIMP AND FUSS,
CAUSE JESUS DOESN'T LOOK AT THE WRAPPING
HE'S LOOKING FOR A HEART THAT TRUSTS!
I'VE TRIED TO THINK OF ALL KINDS OF PRESENTS,
THAT WOULD BE FIT TO GIVE TO A KING,
I THOUGHT REAL HARD AND THEN I DECIDED
THE PRESENT TO GOD'S BEST IS
.......ME!
I'M GONNA WRAP UP MYSELF FOR CHRISTMAS
AND TIE ME WITH A BIG RED BOW
THAT'S WHAT I'M GIVING TO JESUS, IT'S A PRESENT HE'LL LIKE, I KNOW
SO, I wish you each and every one a Merry Christmas! If you have some beloved traditions to share feel free to post them here in a comment!
Blessings on you and yours!
Much Love,
Susan
At our house we are beginning all the Hillis Christmas traditions, and I thought I would pass along a few in case there may be some of them you too would enjoy! Let me start with a story.....
My new acquaintance asked in a rather flitty way, "So, how do you do Christmas at YOUR house with 12 people? Is it just chaos on Christmas morning?" I answer, "No, it's really NOT chaos. We actually really enjoy the Christmas season at our house." She goes on to her next question, "Do you just have mountains of presents to open?" And I answer, "No, we don't have mountains of presents; each of us gives a few. We actually put everybody's name into a basket twice, and then go around and draw names in early December. Each of us makes two gifts for the two folks in the family whose names we draw. Because we make our gifts, our time over the holidays is typically spent at home with each other, working together on our gifts instead of out at malls shopping. A few of the more creative ones help the ones who struggle to come up with ideas. Over the years we have had folks make toe rings, quilts, albums, creative board games, write and illustrate books, sweatshirts, jewelry, home made candy, paintings, sculpture, book shelves, ceramics. And of course there is Ksusha - she picked Brian's name 3 years in a row and painted him the same piggy bank each year - just made it different colors. I guess she thought accountants would like to safeguard their funds!
From the time Cristi was just a toddler, I began to look for ideas that would help the Christmas season be lived out, practically, as a time to celebrate Jesus' birth, rather than as a time marked by dread of the materialistic flavor that is so ubiquitous in America. And I would say this-- the best habits we have adopted replace numbers with faces. Rather than the numbers on a price tag or the number of gifts to buy, we try to focus on faces...that is, on loving God, loving people and loving each other. Here are some habits we repeat, year after year, in those categories.
Loving God
- Jesse Tree - Making a simple felt Jesse tree (you can google it) involves purchasing felt for the wall hanging and 25 decorated felt ornaments, that each symbolize an important story in the gospel message, from Genesis to Revelation. Everyone in the family can help make the tree and ornaments, which comes with scripture passages and short devotionals that can be read every night of advent. The Jesse tree has become a family heirloom, as year after year, we reread the passages and take turns hanging the ornaments. Of course there are discussions which can become heated arguments, about who gets to put up the beautiful white feathery dove that symbolizes the peace of the Holy Spirit. And we get a chance to talk about how it is just these kind of fights that make us need the peace this dove symbolizes!- Advent Wreath - We often have an advent wreath that we light each Sunday, with the 4 candles, symbolizing hope, love, joy, and peace, and the fifth one lit on
Christmas day symbolizing Christ's birth.
- Christmas Books - Every year we buy a new Childrens' Book; some of our favorites are Alabaster's Song, The Crippled Lamb, The Candy Cane, Christmas in a Shoe Box, Little House on the Prairie Christmas, A Child's Christmas at St. Nicolas Circle. What are some that you have enjoyed? Would you share them in the comments so we can all benefit.
- Acting out the Luke 2 Christmas story from the Message - Kids love doing this on Christmas Day - in our house the most cherished role for some reason has always been...not Mary, not Joseph, not the angel, but...the donkey who gets to crawl in on all 4's, carting Mary on his or her back! Towels with ties do great for the shepherds; bathrobes become the garb of Mary and Joseph, with a baby doll for baby Jesus. And a few safety pins easily transform a white sheet into an angel's costume. And Burger King crowns picked up earlier in the week do great for crowns for the 3 kings.
Loving People
- Visitors- We love the book, Christmas at St. Nicholas Circle, which reminds us all that the best part of Christmas is loving the least of these, who cannot necessarily reciprocate. For a number of years now we tend to spread the word that the Hillis Home is open for visitors during the 2 to 3 weeks that school is out - and we tend to count the numbers of folks who come, with a little figure scribbled on the calender for each day we are out of school. Many years we have smiled to see more than 100 visits during these few weeks! We talk a lot about loving every one who comes through our door as a way to love the Lord - and read and discuss Matthew 25 about the sheep being those who loved well.
- The Gold Box - For many years, we have a large gift box wrapped in beautiful gold paper with a slit on the top. We are to do small acts of unseen kindness and then write it on a note and put it in the box. Anything from that Colossians 3 list of, 'clothe yourselves with kindness, humility, compassion, forgiveness, and patience' fits here. We talk about how wonderful it is to do something that only Jesus sees. It is His gift. No one ever opens this box - we just keep it, adding to it year after year.
- Serving - Often at the end of the day on Christmas, we go downtown to help clean up from the Hosea Williams Feed the Homeless Feast that serves 10,000 folks every Christmas Day in Atlanta. It is a joy, always, to feel that we did something practical to serve others....it always gives a chance to talk about this being a gift for Jesus that He loves!
Loving Each Other
- Gifts - So I started out sharing how we make gifts for each other. On Christmas morning after we open stockings, have breakfast, read Luke 2 and thank God for His gift, Brian asks who wants to be the first to give the gifts they made. And one by one we get to enjoy seeing the special treats that have typically have time as a bigger ingredient than money. As the kids grow older and have jobs, some of them prefer to purchase gifts now, and some still make them. - Time - But mostly what we do is simply spent time together - whether its games outside, from soccer to baseball to Frisbee, or inside, like board games and puzzles. The outings to Stone Mountain and Mount Arabia and ice skating also build fun memories!
- Music - We typically sing a carol or two every night, and on several occasions we have acted out the 12 days of Christmas, with each of donning a costume to match our day....obviously none of the boys wanted 'nine ladies dancing.' But they all loved '6 geese a laying' as they pretended to run around laying eggs! An old CD that may still be available somewhere has the song that our kids to this day remember best of all, and the words provide a fitting way to end this post:
I'M GONNA WRAP UP MYSELF FOR CHRISTMAS
AND TIE ME WITH A BIG RED BOW
THAT'S WHAT I'M GIVING TO JESUS, IT'S A PRESENT HE'LL LIKE I KNOW
MY MOMMY KEEPS TRYING TO TELL ME,
IT WON'T DO ANY GOOD TO PRIMP AND FUSS,
CAUSE JESUS DOESN'T LOOK AT THE WRAPPING
HE'S LOOKING FOR A HEART THAT TRUSTS!
I'VE TRIED TO THINK OF ALL KINDS OF PRESENTS,
THAT WOULD BE FIT TO GIVE TO A KING,
I THOUGHT REAL HARD AND THEN I DECIDED
THE PRESENT TO GOD'S BEST IS
.......ME!
I'M GONNA WRAP UP MYSELF FOR CHRISTMAS
AND TIE ME WITH A BIG RED BOW
THAT'S WHAT I'M GIVING TO JESUS, IT'S A PRESENT HE'LL LIKE, I KNOW
SO, I wish you each and every one a Merry Christmas! If you have some beloved traditions to share feel free to post them here in a comment!
Blessings on you and yours!
Much Love,
Susan
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