This Christmas season, our homes can be a welcoming picture of the heavenly dwelling place still to come.

As we consider all of the demands on our time during the Christmas season, it’s important for us to count the cost of decorating. When your two-year-old removes every ornament from the bottom third of the tree, your one-year-old is chewing on baby Jesus, and you’re sweeping up pine needles multiple times a week, you need a reminder of your reasoning!...

So, if you’re getting ready to bring that tub of Christmas paraphernalia out of storage (or maybe you’re a person who decorates right after Halloween!), take a minute and consider how you can be more intentional with it this year.

Not to add another burden, but to use what you’re already spending time on to point yourself and your whole family to Christ. Put up the printable with the verse from “O Holy Night” and sing it to your little ones. Talk about the wonderful gift of Christ’s coming when you set out the kid’s nativity set on the coffee table. Tell your children that Jesus is the light of this world when you wrap the tree with the tangled mess of string lights from three-years-ago.

It’s all a chance to spread the good news!