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Works for Me- Christmas Edition

Join the Works for Me Wednesday crowd over at Shannon's place- Rocks in My Dryer.

Last year we started a very different gift giving ritual at our home. It is so simple and lovely that I must pass it on. Our children get 3 gifts from us. We give Wise Men Gifts- Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
Gold gift: In honor of the gold given to Baby Jesus this is an expensive gift that they have really been wanting- the most desired gift on their Christmas list.
Frankincense Gift- In honor of the Frankincense given to Baby Jesus- which was an incense used extensively in the Jewish temples at the time- this gift is something that will help you in your Christian walk- such as a Bible, Adventures in Odyssey CDs, Veggie Tales DVDs, Jonathan Park CDs.
Myrrh Gift- In honor of the Myrrh presented to Baby Jesus- a spice used to cover the body in preparation for burial- this gift is something that will cover or perfume the body- such as clothing or bath/beauty products (lotion, body wash, bubble bath).
A friend of mine gave me some real frankincense and myrrh which I divided into beautiful little cloth bags for each child. I then made beautiful fancy tags that explained the meaning of each (for gold I backed the tag on beautifully embossed gold paper and we wrap the gold gift in gold paper) that top each present every year.
In this way we have not only paired down and simplified our gift giving but we have brought Christ back into focus for our children. Last year we discussed the meaning behind each gift before we opened them. Mr. Steady and I also do the 3 Wise Men gifts for each other.
This Works for Me in a BIG way!

Note: we also give our children a special pair of Christmas jammies to be opened right before bed on Christmas Eve and each child also gets a special bag filled with new books.

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12:33 PM, 2006-Nov-15 .. Posted by Anonymous

What a wonderful tradition! I love the fact that gift-giving is based upon the story of Christ's birth. I'm going to present this idea to my husband to use for future Christmases!

Blessings,
Stephanie
http://morethanafish.blogspot.com

Christmas Traditions...

12:35 PM, 2006-Nov-15 .. Posted by Anonymous

I love seeing all my children in their new Chrismas jammies...what a wonderful tradition! It sounds like you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Blessings,
Tracy

Enjoyed reading your blog today

2:49 PM, 2006-Nov-15 .. Posted by homeschoolhighlites

Your Christmas gift ideas sound really nice - I think I'd like to start the same tradition in my family!

I've enjoyed reading your 1000 gifts list, many of them would be on my list as well, like #199 - great album!

I'm also married to a "Mr. Steady", I like how you refer to him that way in your blog. :-) The new devotional for CTBHHM does sound fantastic!
Have a great day.

Amy
www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolhighlites

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7:30 PM, 2006-Nov-15 .. Posted by Anonymous

What lovely traditions. Simple and meaningful.

Jenn
http://mycrayonbox.blogspot.com

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9:16 PM, 2006-Nov-15 .. Posted by Anonymous

Wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing =)

Larae
http://www.lsmithy07.blogspot.com

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12:24 AM, 2006-Nov-16 .. Posted by Anonymous

What a great idea! Our gift giving could use some simplifying and I love the significance. Hmmm.....
I'm new to CWO and you were my "Random Blogger."

Blessings,
EEEEMommy
www.homeschoolblogger.com/eeeemommy

Neat Idea

2:49 PM, 2006-Nov-18 .. Posted by MissionaryMom

I've never heard of this before. Thanks for sharing it.

Carol