A Large Family Christmas

    Having a large family does not have to break the bank for Christmas. Many dread Christmas and getting that perfect gift ,etc. What they do not realize is there is no perfect gift. The perfect gift has already been given!
    I have heard several times this year , "Wow, Christmas must be insane at your house with all those kids". Well, many think it is insane everyday since we have 10 kids, with 6 being 6 and under. Actually, for those that know us know that we like things orderly. We are actually blessed and I love Christmas and all it represents. I was scared that with all the gift giving and such that my kids did not understand the true meaning of Christmas so this year instead of doing just our traditional countdown to Christmas chain we did a countdown chain with names of Jesus on them. This is usually the highlight of the kids days. We pull a chain off, read off the name of Jesus, I have them repeat to me the name, and then we read the bible verse with the name in it. Then we go over all the names we have learned so far. This has given us great opportunity to talk about Christ and since doing this I realize my kids have it together. They understand and know way more than I thought they did!! For that I am grateful to the Lord. The kids are looking forward to Christmas but because we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. Yes, they are excited about the presents. Who wouldn't be? BUT they do understand what the day is about. This year we did not go wild and stress about the presents. Our kids got a couple of gifts a piece. Really this year they didn't ask but for a few things. My mom and I were talking about this a few days ago that these kids appreciate what they have and are not spoiled.
  So ,yes, having a large family you have to be creative sometimes. For a few extra people we wanted to give gifts to this year to just let them know how much they mean to us we made them things like bath salts with essential oils and those kinds of things. Made some sugar cookies with the kids and decorated them and took them to our neighbor who is a widow. That is also a good time to spend as a family as well! :)
  A large family Christmas is a blessed Christmas. For the past several years for Christmas there has been a extra child or one on the way. That is a true blessing. It is so fun to teach these kids WHY we celebrate, WHY we have Christmas , and WHAT it is all about . I hope we are raising up arrows to go out into the world and spread the gospel. Christ was born TO DIE! When I think of that and how Mary must of felt I am overcome with awe and amazement. God did NOT have to give his ONLY son but He did. Christmas is about love and the redeeming love of God. So this year enjoy your family, enjoy His blessings upon you and your family and don't stress over the gifts so much because the perfect gift has already been given. I look forward to sharing with my family the gift of Christmas and what it represents as my family will only I imagine get larger if not with more children but when my kids get married and have families of their own. So Merry Christmas from our family to yours !