The holidays are full of joy and wonder, but for many families they also bring busy calendars, money pressure and difficult family situations. In this episode, Garrett, Daniel and Staci talk about how parents can do more than just survive the season. They share ways to enjoy it and use it to point their kids toward Jesus.

In this episode:

• Clarify your purpose: Decide what you’re celebrating, like gratitude at Thanksgiving and Christ’s birth at Christmas. Then look for ways your traditions, even the cultural ones, can point to it. Before the calendar fills up, sit down and list the five or six things your family most wants to do this season.
• Manage expectations: Let your purpose shape your plans instead of feeling pressure to top last year. Talk with extended family early, clearly and kindly about your schedule. Setting boundaries is about protecting your own household, not pushing extended family away.
• Navigate family drama: The holidays won’t fix long-standing conflict, so make a plan ahead of time. Sometimes that means setting your frustrations aside to show up and love well. Other times it means drawing a firm line to protect your kids. Either way, let your kids see what forgiveness and reconciliation look like.

Resources

• The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones: read through it in the weeks before Christmas, ending with the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve
• Need prayer or wisdom this season? Reach out to the team at FBC Boerne.

Thank you for joining us! Want more information? Check out our website:

Kids: https://www.fbcboerne.org/kids/

Youth: https://www.fbcboerne.org/youth/