We celebrate Jesus coming at Christmas. He didn't come for Christmas, He came for us, for every day, to change us, to change the world.

How will you celebrate Jesus?

Make Jesus a birthday card. Ramblings of a Crazy Woman has some simple suggestions.

Many families make Jesus a birthday cake, something that makes a birthday party to children.

Recall how Jesus coming has changed your life, talk to your children about the things he has done.

Thank you for following along on this Countdown to Christmas, Focus on Jesus. Please share your thoughts about the posts or Christmas is About Jesus: An Advent Devotional. I hope Jesus has been more a part of your Christmas this year.

Merry Christmas!

Mary Christmas by Brian Bates is a neat Christmas song. You can listen and read the lyrics.

Read Mary's story from the Bible (Luke 2 has it). Discuss her reactions to the things that happened to her. Her heart was prepared. When the shepherds came she treasured the news. Take the time to treasure your blessings from God. You may not have much chance for quiet reflection with little ones, but reflection will still be worth while.

Not much for craft ideas...

Ornament of Mary and Jesus Under Materials on the right you can print in color or black and white.

Angels. we see lots of different pictures of angels. I think it can be easy to forget they are real. What is a Biblical picture of angels? Christian Answers.net has a list of questions, brief answers, and scriptures, These can give you a starting place to learn what angels really are.

My children and I served at Salvation Army yesterday giving out food and gifts. My boys are excited to go back today. Check with groups in you area. They may need help getting everyone served this Christmas.

Listen for the mention of angels as you enjoy Christmas music.

Craft ideas:

Handprint Angel on A Mommy's Adventures - It follows the story idea - just scroll down.

Paper Plate Angel on The Ramblings of a Crazy Woman 

Jesus our Good Shepherd. Most of us don't know much about sheep or shepherds from experience.

The Good Shepherd is a childrens sermon that gives more detail about what a shepherd does.

Listen to My Voice (John 10)

I put in all the instructions for the game because the ads that were coming up on this page were not child friendly in my opinion. I think I have used this Page before so I hope you haven't had inappropriate things popping up.

•You will need one staff. Use a long object, such as a broom handle.

To play, send three children to the front of the room. One child (who will play the Good Shepherd) will hold a staff while two others (the false shepherds) will stand beside the Good Shepherd. The three children up front will take turns calling out simple instructions such as "Jump on one foot." Children who listen to the false shepherds, or who do not listen to the Good Shepherd, will be out of the game.

Make the game easier by having adults as shepherds; make it harder by having children close their eyes.

Read more: Sunday School Shepherd & Sheep Games | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_5932709_sunday-school-shepherd-sheep-games.html#ixzz18blzgBZv

Share with your children how you hear Jesus voice, times you have followed and times you have not.

Enjoy your time together and prepare your hearts for remembering Jesus coming. Make room for Him in your heart, then there will be room in your schedule as well.

Share the Good News!

Discuss all the ways Jesus coming is Good News. Sharing about Jesus sometimes seems hard. Really it's just telling about our friend, Jesus. The shepherds went and told what had happened to them. Sharing about Jesus is just telling people about the good things Jesus does for us every day.

Other Ideas:

Cup And Ball Shepherd Craft makes a cute little shepherd.

Shepherd's Crook Bookmarkers are easy to make. You could write good news on them and use them for gifts tags.

Share the Good News of Christmas is a site I came across that has a program for reaching out in your neightborhood. It may be too late for this year but something to keep in mind for the future.

Jesus as our sacrifice. What a wonderful gift!

Discuss this wonderful gift with your children, maybe while you try one of the activities below.

This Lamb of God wash cloth craft was designed for Easter. I think it does a good job of talking about the Lamb of God. There are printable or video instructions.

Lamb cupcakes is an edible "craft" idea.

This Paper Loop Lamb Craft is one I hadn't seen. It look simple and cute.

 Stars are amazing. If you can go out and look at them. You will find the longer you spend the more you can see. Out of all those stars, because of study or prophecy the Wise Men knew one of them meant it was time for the Son of God to be born!

I just got home from a church service where we were talking about Holy Spirit. Jesus said He would send Holy Spirit to guide us and so we would never be alone. As I read over todays devotion I realize I left Him out. When we believe in Jesus and make Him our Lord, Holy Spirit comes to live in us and guide us. All the other ways I mentioned of Jesus showing us the way are true also, but Holy Spirit is always there communicating with our born again spirit.

Folding Stars - I haven't got to try these yet, but I think they are super cute, older kids could likely handle them. They are calling them wishing stars. It made me think of writing prayers or blessings in them to remember.

These popsicle stick stars are cute. 

Here's a super simple 3-D stars in several color combinations.

Turn your star gazing into more of a science lesson, or just more interesting, with information from the Hubble Site.  It features a video of what you can see in December .

The Wise Men are interesting characters in the Biblical account of Jesus first coming. Finding anything that would be meaningful to young children is proving difficult. I guess that's why I chose to focus on their example of obedience and sacrifice.

Background information for parents: http://www.bible.ca/D-Xmas-story.htm

Marco Polo wrote about the Magi - an article towards the bottom of the page shares an excerpt. It seems a tall tale, but lends to the historical account of their travel. The Magi, revisited  

Activity Ideas

Play follow the star. Have one person be the star and all others are wise men trying to do as the star does, either in follow the leader fashion or Simon says fashion.

Our family does treasure boxes for each child for Christmas, rather than stockings. Every year I include a letter of praise and blessing personal for each of them, which is the first thing they open every Christmas.

Watch and do this "finger play" of the Wise men's story.

Jesus is the BEST gift. God showed His tremendous love when He gave Jesus. God gave Jesus knowing everything that would happen, and still He gave.

Discuss the things that makes Jesus the best gift. 

Make today a day of wrapping presents, resist the urge to fix the children's work. They are more important than a "perfect" wrapping.

Make wrapping paper.  This site has great pictures and many suggestions. Just coloring with crayons or markers works, too. Here are some more ideas and examples.

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well. Remember to focus on what is truly important, not just urgent. As Christmas gets closer, schedules get fuller and deadlines rush at us, it's harder to take time to slow down or to keep focused on Jesus. I encourage you to take a look at the family calendar and schedule in quiet time.

Activity Ideas:

Look at the words to The Holly and The Ivy, talk about them. 

This craft is adorable and simple. It would make great cards or tags. Fingerprint Holly You can color fingers with markers or use ink pads (like for rubber stamps) if you don't have paint.

Make Holly Wreath Cookies - if you're like me this would mean a trip to the store, so maybe another day?

Being called to suffer, or at least be willing to is a hard concept for children, it's a hard concept for me. Let them ask questions about suffering, of any kind, even if your answer has to be "I don't really know." Then pray for those you know who are suffering and for answers to their questions.