Explanation

"The wonder and awe of Christmas is just a beginning. Christmas reminds us that the babe born in Bethlehem has given us purpose for living, and what happens next to us largely depends on how we embrace our Savior, Jesus Christ, and follow Him." ~Rosemary M. Wixom

As this holiday season approaches, I find myself wanting to teach my kids to slow down, want less, serve more, enjoy each other, reflect upon good things, and most of all, to internalize a deeper love, discipleship, and knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

While reading a talk from BYU Women's Conference, I found this quote from Sister Sheri Dew, "I realized...that I didn't know very much about the Savior, and it simply isn't possible to be a disciple of someone you don't know."  

"Exactly!" I thought. I need to help my family KNOW the Savior better.  But how....?

From the same talk, the following quote from Elder Holland encompasses my desires and helped me decide how to create a way for our family to learn of the Savior. Elder Holland said,  

"I pray that you will . . . love everything He did, everywhere He went, everything He said, and everything He is. I would walk on hot lava, I would drink broken glass to find one more word, one more phrase, one more doctrine, any parable that anyone could give me of the life of Christ the living Son of the living God."

Isn't that beautiful?  I can just hear his sincerity and love for his Savior.

As I thought about it and planned, the thought kept coming to me that it needed to be shared. So, if you think this would be beneficial to your family, please print (there is a button at the very bottom of the page that lets you print the post!), read, share, whatever works for you!  (I would also appreciate feedback if things aren't right or don't work.)  

I am using Gospel Art pictures from here (unless otherwise noted) and summaries of the Gospel Art from here.  I am taking most of the scripture references out of the summaries, just to make the 'story' easier for children to read, but will soon add general references to each story.  Also, some summaries are slightly different than what is printed on the back of the Gospel Art pictures.  A dear friend found these Bible videos to go along with many of the stories.  They will be individually linked (starting with mid December blog posts).

My plan: to print the Elder Holland quote from above and put it up on the pantry door.  Each day I will put our Gospel Art picture along with the printed out story on the pantry as well.  I will encourage the kids to read the story in the morning, remember it throughout the day, and to reflect on the question at the end. I've thought about having a 'prize' or something for those that read it, but haven't come up with that yet. :)  It might just be an internally motivated thing.

For our Family Home Evening Dec. 1, I plan to read the quote and talk about it, watch this movie, (mostly to listen to the song lyrics), explain the stories for the month, and read the first one together.

I also have a book to refer to if older children want to delve deeper.  It is called 400 Questions and Answers about the Life and Times of Jesus Christ.

A deep love of our Savior is vital in the world today.  As we learn of and celebrate His life, our reverence toward Him will grow, our love for Him will deepen, and we will be better people.  I hope this will provide a beautiful opportunity for your families!  Happy Holidays!