The Christmas Chain

Christmas is a time of celebration and rejoicing. Yet, at times, the celebration and rejoicing of the holiday can take a backseat to the onslaught of wishlists and hosting obligations.

From the time our children were very young, we established the tradition of the Christmas Chain for the twelve days leading up to Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve itself, we had a different set of traditions, which included serving Christmas dinner to the homeless at a local food bank. Serving together was always the highlight of our Christmas celebrations. After returing home and changing into our coziest pajamas, the evening was spent reading some of our children's favorite Christmas stories, which included:

~ The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry

~ the poem Teach the Children &

~ An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco

Once the stories were read by the glow of our Christmas tree, my husband would begin reading the account of the Christmas story found in Luke 2. As he read, our children would snack on a shepherd's meal while wrapped in their favorite blankets at base of our Christmas tree. It was such a peaceful way to usher in Christmas day.

Leading up to Christmas Eve, we would begin a scripture countdown starting on December 12th. These daily readings captured a moment in the life of Jesus and helped us to keep our focus on Him and not on the hustle and bustle of the holiday.

Here is a list of the verses we used for the twelve days prior to Christmas Eve...

Day 1 (12/12): Luke 1:30-38

Day 2 (12/13): Matthew 2:1-11

Day 3 (12/14): Matthew 2:13-15

Day 4 (12/15): Matthew 2:19-23

Day 5 (12/16): Luke 2:45-52

Day 6 (12/17): Matthew 3:13-17

Day 7 (12/18): Matthew 4:1-11

Day 8 (12/19): Mark 2:1-12

Day 9 (12/20): John 8:3-12

Day 10 (12/21): Matthew 26:36-45

Day 11 (12/22): Matthew 27:31:50

Day 12 (12/23): John 20:1-18

These traditions, along with a few others, kept our Christmas holidays from becoming too wrapped up in chaos. Instead, we celebrated this time we had as a family and rejoiced in the ways we could emulate our Savior's example.