Spiritual Christmas Gifts

A few years ago my hubby and I started a new Christmas tradition in our house.  We give each of our kids a "spiritual gift" on Christmas morning.

Most of their gifts (from family and friends) are under the tree, but their spiritual gifts we keep under our manger scene that sits on our Family Worship Table. 

When we started this tradition, we wanted to give our kids something more meaningful than the typical "gift from Santa", so we used to tell them it was their "gift from Jesus"...but since that well-intended idea got confusing fast ("Jesus mailed this to me?"  "Was He here?" etc) we decided to just call it their "spiritual gift"! :)

How it works, is that we just buy a gift for each child which emphasizes a way that the Lord has gifted them or a desire he's given them.  We pray about what the Lord wants to say to them, and then give them a scripture to go with their gift. 

This scripture then becomes "theirs" for the new upcoming year!

For example, last year

~Trusten (our outdoors-man) got a bow and arrow with a verse to "be strong and courageous". 

~Brahm (our musical child) got a set of drum sticks with a verse that read, "Burst out in jubilant song! Make music to the Lord!"

~And Samuel (our brave and might defender of all things) got a Nerf sword to be "a mighty warrior for Jesus"!

Giving our kids "spiritual gifts" at Christmas is just another way we try to let them know that at Christmas, Christ is more!

(This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday and Wednesdays Walk Down Memory Lane!)