The Spirit of Gift-Giving
By C.S. Bezas
Don't we all want our children
to understand the significance of Christmas and the gift
God gave by sending His Son? This week's Family Home Evening
lesson serves that purpose. So it's time for some FHE Fun!
FHE FUN
Opening Song
#205 Once
in Royal David's City
Opening Prayer
By
Invitation.
Devotional
Allow whoever feels prompted
to share a scripture that touched them from the previous
week. Perhaps they could share how the scripture helped
them during the week.
Activity
(Prior to FHE, arrange to have
several small unwrapped gifts ready for each family member.
Place them in hidden groupings in a side room, one little
set of gifts for each person in the family. Make sure to
cover up each set with a cloth. These gifts could even be
purchased at the dollar store.)
At the start of the activity,
explain to the family they will have the opportunity to
go Christmas "shopping" for each other. Let them
know that they need to have ready the same amount of dollar
bills as they have family members (small children who do
not yet receive an allowance could offer one coin per family
member).
Invite one individual to go
with you to the side room where you have hidden the small
assortment of gifts. Uncover every grouping except
this particular child's (we don't want him to see his gifts).
Allow him (or her) to select one gift per person and to
pay you a dollar for each gift as he goes. Once he has finished
making his "purchases," allow him to place them
in a bag. He can leave quickly to hide the presents for
wrapping.
While he is gone, make sure
to leave uncovered all gift assortments except for
the next person's (for example, her own assortment needs
to be covered before she arrives to "shop." This
way, she can see the others' assortments, but not
hers).
Allow the "shopping"
to continue, with each family member getting a chance to
make Christmas purchases as a service to their siblings.
Pay quiet, but close attention to whether complaining ensues
such as, "I have to use my money to buy him
a present?" They really do need to use their own money
for this activity to hit home.
Application
After everyone has had a chance
to "shop" for Christmas gifts for the other family
members, reassemble the group in the main room. Invite each
family member to take a turn reading one-after-the-other
the following verses: 1 Nephi 11:13-23. Invite your
family to mark in their individual scriptures any part of
the passage that particularly touches them. Afterwards allow
them to share what passages moved them and how the passages
bring a deeper understanding for the purpose of Christmas.
Ask
several application questions, perhaps along these lines:
- What do we celebrate at this time
of year?
- What must it have been like for
Heavenly Father to send His Son to this world?
- What kind of sacrifice did this
take?
- What kind of gift has Christ given
you because of this sacrifice?
- How was using your own money a
sacrifice to buy your brother(s) and/or sister(s) a gift?
- What if they do not appreciate
your gift when you eventually give it to them on Christmas
day?
- How is this parallel to appreciating
(or not) the gift God has given us in His Son?
- What can we do as a family this
Christmas to show deep appreciation of the Savior and
what He has done for us?
To close, you could read the
following poem:
