This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Chaska Valley Family Theater production of White Christmas. It was a very enjoyable evening. For anyone interested, they have 5 more shows coming up this weekend. You can find more information at www.cvft.org.
The show follows the tale of a couple of army buddies who, after returning home from the war, find themselves helping out their old commanding officer who is struggling to make ends meet at an inn up in Vermont. They pull in some help from their Broadway pals and put on a Christmas show that packs in a crowd. The story has some great, memorable musical numbers, including the famous “White Christmas” song from the title.
Julie and I wound up getting to the event a little early and spent some time talking with one of the patrons of the theater. He talked about how this show will help many people get into the Christmas mood, because he speculated that a lot of people were not focusing on Christmas yet.
I am not sure if that was a correct assessment or not, but even those who may be in the Christmas spirit, might not be focusing on the right things. It is actually pretty easy to get into the traditional Christmas mindset. It is easy for us to find ourselves dreaming of a white Christmas or thinking about a jolly, overweight man in a red suit climbing down our chimney to bring us gifts. It’s easy because everywhere we turn at this time of year we find ourselves bombarded with Christmas carols, television specials, and deocrations galore that constantly turn our eyes toward the holiday season.
But if we want to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, that doesn’t happen naturally. If we are not careful, our entire Christmas season can get eaten up focusing only on the materialistic celebration of the holiday instead of on the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
So, how do we get ourselves dreaming about the celebration of the birth of Christ instead of just a winter wonderland? That’s a good question. I believe the key is being intentional about putting Christ in the forefront during this time of year. There is nothing wrong with Christmas shopping, decorating the house, baking Christmas cookies, listening to carols, and watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. But if that is all that we do, then Christ will fade into the background.
One of the things that we do as a family is to spend some time each evening reading an advent focused devotional storybook. The one we are reading this year is entitled “Jotham’s Journey.” We have done it before, but whenever we read it again, the children enjoy it. The story follows the journey of a young boy named Jotham who has been separated from his family and as he gets closer and closer to finding them, he also gets closer and closer to finding the Messiah. It is a great story that helps us focus our minds and hearts on the birth of Christ.
Another way to help ourselves focus on the true meaning of Christmas is by making Church a priority. Over the next several weeks we will be focusing on the Christmas message on Sunday mornings. And this Sunday evening, at 5:30, we will be having a special Christmas party at the church with a focus on the message of Christmas. If you are free, come on out and join us for a Christmas focus along with food and fellowship. Let’s make it a priority to focus on the true meaning of Christmas this holiday season!