Wow! That is the first word that comes to mind when i think about this book. Wow!
What a treasure trove inside "Christ-centered Christmas"! This book is chock full of wonderful ideas for keeping the true meaning of Christmas; Jesus, in focus. The ideas in this book include tips for celebrating Christmas eve, menus, shopping lists for Christmas baking, words to familiar Christmas carols, and recipes... lots of yummy recipes! There are also ideas about gift giving, caroling parties and even decorating your house for Christmas. It is full of many of the Young Family's favorite traditions. "Christ-centered Christmas" is truly a gift from their family to the readers.
This book was written by Hal and Melanie Young of "Raising Real Men".
This is how they describe themselves, as copied from their website: "Hal and Melanie Young have been involved with parenting, political commentary, writing and homeschooling from coast to coast, including California, Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina. They have eight children from 20 on down and have homeschooled them from the beginning. The Youngs live in North Carolina, learn everywhere, and believe true riches don’t involve money."
i love the last line. They believe that "true riches don't involve money". That kind of motto is hard to find nowadays. It is evident in "Christ-centered Christmas". The Youngs have wonderful family traditions that focus attention on Christ. This book is their way of sharing that with the reader.
"Christ-centered Christmas" has a chapter about the Christmas story, and the prophecies about Jesus' birth. This is much needed for me. Tonight, while watching an old Christmas program from my youth, i realized that although i know the names of all Santa's reindeer, i cannot name all of Jesus' disciples that easily. How much i want things to be different for my girls when they get older! This year, we will be memorizing prophetic scripture about Jesus' birth! (and the names of Jesus' disciples too!)
Hal and Melanie share about how their family celebrates Advent, Christmas and "Old Christmas", or the time between Christmas and Epiphany, or January 6th.
They provide menus and ideas for Christmas eve dinner, as well as Christmas day dinner. It is full of yummy recipes to go along with the menus, like "Granny's Fruit Cakes". These sound amazing, and nothing like the fruit cake we are used to seeing!
There is also a recipe for a delightful sounding Christmas tea that i cannot wait to try!
This book will bless your heart, and give you some wonderful ideas for creating new traditions with your own family. One of my favorite ideas is the ornament of the year idea. This is an ornament you buy that represents what God has done for you in the past year. Every year as you unpack the ornaments to decorate the tree, you can tell your children the story behind the ornament. What a godly heritage we are leaving for our children in reminding them of God's goodness through the years!
If given the chance to buy it, i highly recommend that you do it! i don't think you will be disappointed. Probably, you will say, "Wow!" just as i did when i first opened it.
You can buy it online at their website. Just visit: http://www.raisingrealmen.com/2011/12/announcing-christ-centered-christmas/
A special thank you to Hal and Melanie Young for the honor of receiving this book to review. It was a blessing!
~Alycia
