Written by ktmom15 on December 9, 2015

Don’t you think God wants you to celebrate Christ birth?

Over the years our family has decided not to celebrate the traditional Catholic holidays, which included Christmas. Often we do not even discuss this decision with others. But sometimes it is unavoidable. So to prepare our children to answer those unavoidable questions we do some role playing.

Here is a few questions we get asked and how we respond.

Don’t you think God wants you to celebrate his sons birth? After all He did with angel announcements and a special star? Answer: Absolutely! We want to celebrate the gift of the Messiah everyday. Since there is no record of the actual date of Christ birth in the Bible or in any other historical documents, we choose to celebrate the blessing of His birth everyday.
His birth is in the Bible so don’t you miss the telling of the Christmas story? (this one makes me laugh a little.) Answer: Yes, his birth is recorded in the Bible and it is a beautiful story that we enjoy reading and discussing during our annual Bible reading. There is no word, “Christmas” in the Bible, so we do not miss out on telling this story.
Don’t you miss the presents? Answer: We love giving gifts to our friends and family all year long. (We have found that we can give more and more meaningful gifts when we don’t feel pressured to shop and buy at one time of the year. We also have found it means a lot to someone to receive a random gift. We even buy our kids gifts just whenever. It shows them we are thinking of them. )
What about family time? Answer: We enjoy time together with our family as often is possible, we do not need a holiday to get together.
Do you miss decorating? Answer: We love decorating our home for the season. We decorate for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Do you celebrate Hanukkah? Answer: No, we recognize the Jewish feast of Dedication as a great day in history. But we do not celebrate this day as a feast ourselves.
Do you celebrate any holidays? Answer: Yes, we celebrate the Biblical feasts that can be found in Leviticus 23. We also enjoy recognizing other historical days of remembrance like Thanksgiving and Independence Day.
Are you excited about Santa coming? (this is one of the most asked questions of my children when i am out in public) Answer: No, with a polite smile.
So do you miss Christmas carols? Answer: I love listening to music about Christ birth all year long.

When people wish us a Merry Christmas, happy holiday, or any other greeting we just politely respond with a “Have a blessed day.” There is no reason to think that anyone is trying to be offensive in greeting us a with a “Merry Christmas.” They do not know we choose to not participate in this traditional holiday. They are just being polite, so we can be polite back.

In our house, we try and teach our children that every family is different. When they grow up and raise their children they will make the best choices for their families . It may not look exactly like our family, but as long as they are choosing to seek YHVH with all their heart and to train up their children in Truth than we will be blessed parents. It is not our job to judge what others do, but rather to walk the path YHVH has given us and to encourage others to walk in His Truth as well.

Here are some scriptures that remind us that no matter what YHVH is with us if we are Trusting and Obeying Him.