Christ-Centered Holidays: Keeping Thanksgiving and Christmas About Jesus

🎄 This episode is sponsored by the Christ-Centered Holiday Book Bundle from Hal & Melanie Young: Advent, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Reformation Day family devotions, plus downloadable printable bonuses. Get the holiday bundle → The holiday rush is about to start. Hal and Melanie Young on keeping Thanksgiving and Christmas centered on Christ, and still making them a joy. Thanksgiving only makes sense if there’s Someone to thank. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. But between now and New Year’s, the shopping, the cooking, the travel and the calendar can crowd out the very thing we’re celebrating. Hal and Melanie Young recorded this one just before the 2015 holiday season, and their advice is just as timely now: decide before the rush starts what your family’s holidays are going to be about, and then make them a joy to keep. In this episode: Holidays are biblical: God commanded His people to remember with celebrations (Exodus 12) Feasting is biblical too, and a gift to enjoy (Nehemiah 8) Thanksgiving is specifically about giving thanks to God, and the history behind it is worth talking through with your kids Managing the season so your family can celebrate, remember and teach, instead of just surviving it A classic book that makes teaching gratitude fun: Pollyanna Scripture mentioned: Exodus 12 · Nehemiah 8 Looking ahead to Advent? Hal and Melanie’s Christ-Centered Advent family devotionals are at RaisingRealMen.com . This episode is sponsored by Craftsman Crate from Hal and Melanie Young: real artisan crafts like wood-burning, candlemaking and soapstone carving, with everything your family needs to make them together. Order a single crate or subscribe, shipping included. Find Craftsman Crate at RaisingRealMen.com . More from Hal and Melanie: Family Worship Without the Guilt Making Biblical Family Life Practical is hosted by Hal and Melanie Young and is part of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network. Find more from Hal and Melanie at HalandMelanie.com .