Published December 18, 2016
Thoughts and Ideas from CSU Employees
Have the youngest member of your family read the Luke 2 Christmas story on Christmas morning before you open any gifts.
-Dr. Jim Lytle, President
Make your shared time with family more about relationships than gifts. Play games; tell stories; pull pranks; go outside; sing loud; laugh at jokes, and just enjoy the chance to be together.
-Kristen Miller, Academic Administrative Assistant
Read and reflect on the true Christmas story with your family (in the Gospels). Get rid of worldly Christmas distractions; throw out Santa Claus and outrageous gift-giving. Give just one or two special gifts to each person in your family, and recognize that you are giving gifts as a remembrance of the special gift that God has already given—salvation through Jesus Christ!
(This is what I hope Christmas will look like in my young family after my child is born and begins to learn what Christmas is all about.)
-Patience Schwamb, Director of Student Accounts
Give to someone outside your normal gift list—for example, the Salvation Army or a ministry you do not normally support. Go serve somewhere.
-Dr. Bill Higley, Vice President for Academics
I’ve been using a blog from FamilyLife ministry to read with the Sundays of Advent.
-Susan Cagley, Associate Professor, Social Studies Education; Social Studies Advisor, School of Arts & Sciences
Spend some time each day between Thanksgiving and Christmas to celebrate Advent. Focus on the true meaning of Christmas before it gets here.
-Sherrie Holloway, Department Chair; Professor, Health and Human Performance
Christmas is the time of year filled with the rush of shopping and baking, working hard to make this time of the year merry, bright and “just” right. To make this Christmas time more meaningful, value time spent with family and friends by investing in and strengthening these relationships instead of letting them continue to fade year to year.
-Nathan Miller, Director of Student Teams
Take the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke and read portions of it each day leading up to the birth of Christ, so your last reading is the birth of Christ on Christmas day. This is probably best to begin reading the week prior to or two weeks prior to Christmas; this way you’re continually focusing on Christ during the Christmas season.
-Dr. Wayne Slusser, Seminary Dean; Associate Professor of New Testament
