Christmas Family Home Evening on Service and Loving One Another

I do all I can to remind my kids the real reason we're celebrating Christmas. This year, I tried something new in an attempt to keep our focus on the Savior and His example of love and service. We did this on a Monday night, for our Family Night activity. We started out by watching this video on the Mormon Channel:

Then I read them the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet in John 13. I explained what He meant when he said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt 25:40). We talked a little bit about how doing kind things for others makes us feel happy, and how that's the kind of gift the Savior wants us to give to Him for Christmas.

Then I shared this poem, written by a dear friend, Debra Peterson:

I believe that God sends angels

to ease the burdens we must bare

and we rarely face affliction

without an angel there

but all angels aren't in Heaven

nor do they all have wings

and they seldom sound their trumpets

and not every angels sings

and they often remain anonymous

in the service that they give

and we rarely recognize them

or realize where they live

but if you'll pause for just a moment

when your neighbor's laundry is hung

you might just see a pair of wings

drying in the sun

© debra darrington peterson

We talked about how God sends angels to help others, and how often those angels are US! I referred back to The Coat and how that little boy was an angel to the boy who was cold, without a coat. I invited my kids to "PUT ON THEIR WINGS" this month, and be an angel for someone. The challenge was to ask this question, every day:

"Who needs me today?"

I told them about this famous movie quote, "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings." We decided that every time we "put on our angel wings" and did service for someone, we would get to hang a bell on our tree.

So far we have five bells on our tree. They are sweet reminders of how good it feels to do something kind for someone else. I love that there's no way to write our name on them either. We talked a bit about what "anonymous" means.

I look forward to the rest of this month as we continue to ask ourselves, "Who needs me today?" and I can ask my kids, "Did you put on your angel wings today?" 

How do you incorporate service into your Christmas traditions?

And lastly, here's a nice little reality shot for you, just in case you imagined this Family Night activity going smooth as buttuh.....