Welcome to your twenty-five day countdown and thriving guide. Make sure you click the follow via email button on the right to receive your “25 Days of Thriving through Christmas” in your inbox each day! Raising children from hard places is challenging. Surviving the holidays with a smile on your face while parenting is even more challenging, that’s why the Positive Adoption Team has put together this handy little series. Don’t stress. It’s not a huge to-do, not more than a paragraph or two each day. Easy peasy and encouraging. So, take a minute each morning, open your inbox and read. This year, let’s not just survive the Christmas season, let’s thrive!

Tip 6-

Draw names.

It is so tempting to buy for everyone. My kids used to ask me for ‘dollars’ so they could buy a present for everyone in the family. With a large family, that is a lot of pressure for a little one. To eliminate some stress, draw names. This gives the child the opportunity to focus on one person. Through focusing on one person, the child is able to study and think about someone other than themselves. The gift doesn’t have to be store-bought. One year my daughter and her younger brothers made theme jars, a mason jar with small themed presents.

Biblical Application:

Wise Men Gifts

“And going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His Mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented Him with gifts-gold, frankincense and myrrh.”- Matthew 2:11

“St. Matthew recorded that the Magi brought three gifts, each also having a prophetic meaning: gold, the gift for a king; frankincense, the gift for a priest; and myrrh — a burial ointment, a gift for one who would die. St. Irenaeus (d. 202) in his Adversus haereses offered the following interpretation for the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh respectively: King, God and Suffering Redeemer as well as virtue, prayer and suffering.” –www.catholiceducation.org

Three gifts.

1. A gift for the personality of the receiver, i.e. gold for a King, hunting boots for the hunter, a crown for a princess
2. Something useful for the current occupation, frankincense for the King, a book for a student, crayons for the child artist
3. Something for the future, myrrh for the Suffering Redeemer, a gift that points to the future, music for the future musician, medical supplies for a future paramedic, journals for the future author