When I was a kid, my siblings and I listened to Steve Green’s “Hide ‘Em In Your Heart” albums over and over again. These albums are a collection of dozens of kids’ songs that are basically just Bible verses put to catchy tunes. To this day, when I notice fear rise in me in a particular moment, I instinctively start singing, “When I am afraid I will trust in You, I will trust in You, I will trust in You,” from Psalm 56:3-4 thanks to one of those catchy tunes. The title of the albums is a nod to another Psalm—Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Because of the truths embedded in them, these albums were instrumental in my spiritual formation in my earliest years. Learning truths from God’s Word and committing them to my memory helped to shape me into the person I am today, now with children of my own.

The Christmas season is often hectic. It seems that this time of year has almost become synonymous with busy-ness. Decorating, cooking and baking, shopping, scheduling out holiday events...all wonderful activities that have the potential to drown out the deeper meaning of the season.

As parents, it's worth asking ourselves, "What are my children learning about Christmas through the way I approach the holiday? What am I communicating, directly and indirectly, about the meaning of Christmas?"