As parents, Advent affords us an incredible chance to talk to our children about the good news of Jesus Christ every year. However, I will honestly tell you that more often than not in my home, we let the busyness of the season get the best of us and we don’t approach the topic with our children as we should.
We decorate the Christmas tree without mentioning why we celebrate Christmas, we help our children pick out presents for each other without talking about the greatest gift of all, and we sing Christmas carols without stopping to discuss the lyrics.
So it was a real gift to me earlier this week when I read an article by Pastor Paul Tripp on the topic of the Christmas tree.
In the article, Tripp talks about the family ritual they have of going to pick out a real Christmas tree, strapping it to the top of their car and bringing it home to their house to decorate. He talks about the much-anticipated moment where the whole family sits in the darkness for a moment before they turn the lights on and the tree illuminates the room.
