"Once upon a midnight clear, a child was born, a blazing star stood over the stable where the birth took place, and wise men came bearing birthday gifts for the child. We haven't forgotten that wonderful night through the centuries.
"We celebrate that night by hanging stars representing the nativity star on the Christmas tree, and we give gifts just as the wise men did. We spend money and time, and put much thought into the purchasing of these gifts. Then we wrap them and put them under the tree, or in stockings lovingly hung on the mantle. You give me a tie, I give you a book, Aunt Martha always wanted a red sweater, Uncle Harry could use a new robe, and little Ann asked for a doll that talks. We are careful to forget no adult or child.
"Finally everything seems ready. All the stocking are filled. All, that is, except one, and we haven't even hung it! We forgot to hang the stocking for that child who was born upon that star-filled night centuries ago, the very child whose birth we are celebrating. We can not forget to include our wonderful Savior in our gift giving.
"Let us each hang a white stocking for Him -- white to represent the purity of His life -- that it may be a reminder that He needs to be included in our celebrations. We need to give time and thought into which gift the Savior would want from us, then write it down, and place it in the stocking. We must let that stocking overflow with the gift that we have decided to give, whether it is more a more loving heart, more tolerance, or more kindness and patience with our fellow men. All of these gifts will bring about...
Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men."
(If you don't want to make your own, we sell these stockings made from vintage linens with the story in our Etsy shop for $18 -- or just leave us a message in the comment section if you are interested in one. This is a great tradition to start with your family.)
This is a tradition that we have been doing since I was a little girl. On Christmas Eve, we all write down what gift we are going to give Jesus that upcoming year and put it in the stocking. Then we read the gifts we wrote down last year. What an easy and meaningful tradition to help us remember Christ and what Christmas is all about!
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