More on the same book

Okay, so we obviously didn't meet in November. Or December. It turns out that it's harder to get together a few housewives than one may have thought. Especially since several of them work part time, and a few of them went out of town for the holidays (or had company, like I did).

I hope we will get a chance to get together and discuss this book soon--if only so that we can move on to the next one. This really is a good book, though. I even gave it to my sister-in-law as a Christmas present!

I attempted to make use of one of her suggestions for Christmas this year, that of having your children do chores to earn money to give to Jesus. My sons just turned four, and although they don't count very well, they sure enjoy collecting coins. So I got out my coin jar, and I gave each of them a small paper bag which they got to decorate. Then I wrote "Joshua's gift to Jesus," and "Daniel's gift to Jesus" on them, folded down and stapled the top shut, and cut a slit for them to put the change into. I talked to them about giving to Jesus, and how that means giving to someone else since you can't really give money to Jesus Himself (a bit of a difficult concept for that age). Then I started encouraging them to do chores, and paid them generously in coins for them. I can't say that I was very systematic in my approach, and it pretty well broke down completely after my parents arrived (and everyone got sick). In the end I got rid of all my change, though.

Noel Piper writes that on Christmas Eve they would have each of their children place their little sacks of money by a nativity scene, and then during the night they would take the money out and put some presents in, like stockings. That seems like a neat idea, but I decided that for our small children I wanted them to be clear about what was happening to the money. I didn't want it to mysteriously "disappear" like a reverse Santa Claus. So I thought that the best thing would be to take them to the store, let them put their change into the machines there and get the paper money out, put in a envelope, and then at church have them put the envelope in the offering plate. That way they know that they're giving it to the church. We haven't actually done that yet (did I mention that basically the whole family except me was sick?), but we will! Eventually.

Next year I hope to approach all of this with a better plan, and to start it earlier. I started late this year. I am glad for the idea, though, and hope to integrate more such ideas into our holiday celebrations. The best thing about Noel Piper's book is that it gives a way of thinking about special occasions (and even everyday rituals), and approaching them as being opportunities for teaching both our children and our selves about who God is, what He has done, and everything He has promised to do for us in the future.