Have a Birthday Cake for Jesus

One of our family traditions is to have a birthday cake for Jesus at our Christmas family gathering. The birthday cake is always a big hit with the children. They love blowing out the candles and singing “Happy birthday to Jesus, “an excellent way to teach them about celebrating the birthday of Jesus. Don’t miss the value of Christmas traditions, especially making memories of celebrating the birth of Jesus.

My four-year-old great-granddaughter was thrilled to blow out the candles. Later that evening when her parents were putting her to bed, she prayed that Jesus would not forget to go to his birthday party tomorrow. We were happy to hear her response to the birthday celebration for Jesus. She got the message.

 I am looking forward to bringing out the cake and seeing the excitement in the eyes of my great-granddaughters as we sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus.

Questions to think about:

• What are your family traditions of the true meaning of Christmas?

• What do you want your grandchildren to remember about celebrating Christmas with you?

• Do you want them to remember the expensive Christmas gifts you gave to them? On the other hand, do you want them to remember something about celebrating the true meaning of Christmas, such as blowing out the candles on Jesus’ birthday cake or reading the story of the birth of Jesus from the Bible before opening the gifts? 

• Ask God for creative ideas of how you can share the true meaning of Christmas with your grandchildren.

• Have you prayed about the gifts you will give your grandchildren for Christmas?

• Ask God to provide you with ideas of what you might do to encourage your grandchildren to think of others and their needs, not only their own, during this Christmas season.

 “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)

PS: Additional prayer helps:I have developed “Thirty-one Scriptures to Pray for Grandchildren.” Many grandparents are using these Scriptures to pray for their grandchildren. Just by joining the mailing list at the bottom of this page, you will receive grandparenting blogs and prayer suggestions to pray for your grandchildren regularly. I will send you a free downloadable copy of “Thirty-one Scriptures to Pray for your Grandchildren.”

By Lillian Penner, Prayer director for Christian Grandparenting Network, lpenner@christiangrandparenting.net