Celebrations from the Soul

A Graceful Holiday Series - VII

~ Celebration with Gratitude~

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at this birth.  Luke 1:14

Prayer for today:

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your precious son Jesus to this earth so that I may have eternal life.   I celebrate Jesus today and I am forever grateful for your unconditional love.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen

Reflection Corner:

Happy Birthday, Jesus,
I'm so glad it's Christmas.
All the tinsel and lights and
The presents are nice
But the real gift is You.

Happy Birthday, Jesus,
I'm so glad it's Christmas.
All the carols and bells make
The holidays swell
And it's all about You.

Happy Birthday, Jesus; Jesus, I love You.

 My daughter Lauren sang that song when she was three during a Christmas program at her pre-school.  It is such a special song that touched my heart back then and still brings a bright flickering smile to my heart when I hear it.  I think this song was a great foundation for my three year old to let her know that Christmas is about the celebration of Jesus’ birth, so we go through the season preparing for his birthday. 

I often think about ways to celebrate Jesus’ birthday and I recently attended a birthday party that sparked a great idea for his celebration.  At the birthday party, the host gave each person a cupcake along with a candle.  The host came around and lit the candle.  We were giving the instructions to make a birthday wish for the guest of honor and then blow out the candle.   1,2,3 blow out the candles as everyone cheered for the birthday boy as he grinned ear to ear knowing that the room was full of birthday wishes especially for him.  I can imagine that Jesus would be sitting with a big smile on his face as we all gathered around him with hearts full of love rejoicing in his birth and thanking him for his love.  I’m excited about all of the possibilities to celebrate, in the activity inspiration, there is a cute idea with the cupcake inspiration I described above.  Thank you Lord for blessing us and loving us unconditionally!

Activity Inspiration:

“Cupcakes, Candles & Gratitude”

Beautiful cupcakes and a room full of love and gratitude sounds like the ultimate way to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.  You can create some yummy cupcakes or special treats of your choice.  This is definitely a way for your kids to be involved in preparing special treats.

All of your guests will have their own special cupcake with a candle.  If it’s a smaller group you can light one candle and pass it on and use this as a time to talk about the light and love of Christ and our love and commitment to him.

The host will let everyone know that once their candles are lit, everyone will have a quiet moment to be share what is on their heart and what they are thankful for.  At this time, everyone will blow out their candles and shout, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS, WE LOVE YOU!

Journal:

1. Will you celebrate Jesus’ birthday on December 25^th or another day during the advent season?
2. Who will you invite, that will grow and will be blessed by walking through this process to grasp the reason for the season?
3. What special ritual will you think of that will make your celebration unique that honors Jesus and shows gratitude?