I love November. The air becomes crisper, colors become more intense, my favorite foods are ready to harvest, and Christmas decorations are out in full force… wait… what was that last one? Christmas in November? Every year Christmas celebrations start earlier; if this keeps up, soon stores will have permanent Christmas displays full of trees, lights, fake snow, and oh so many Santas.

What is the obsession with Christmas? Granted, for many stores it’s about their bottom line. If people will buy, they will sell. Even Hallmark began their Christmas movie marathons in October. If Christmas is indeed “the most wonderful time of the year,” as Andy Williams said, then we’re well on pace to capture that wonderful time year-round.

When asked what they find so compelling about Christmas, people often mention kindness, generosity, and giving. St. Nicholas exemplifies all of these and more. Four years ago when they were 10 years old as part of a church school project, my daughter and her friend prepared an informational brochure about St. Nicholas. This brochure was distributed at Luminary Night (a town event our church does) to share the story of St. Nicholas with our guests, many of whom are only familiar with Santa Claus. I hope you enjoy re-reading their words as much as I have.

One thing St. Nicholas is known for is of course his secret gift giving. Another thing he’s known for is being a bishop. He is known for countless legends about the gift giving. Like the one about a poor widower that has three daughters. They are poor. And the daughters were going to be sold into slavery if they didn’t have these things called dowries. So St. Nicholas came to their house on three different nights and left a pouch of gold. There was enough money for the three girls to get dowries and get married so they wouldn’t get sold into slavery.

Today we commemorate St. Nicholas by putting our shoes or boots somewhere and while we’re sleeping St. Nicholas comes. And when we come down stairs in the morning, we have presents waiting for us. There are three gifts that we always get. The first thing we always get is a candy cane. The second thing that we always get are oranges. The final thing that we always get are chocolate coins. These three things all have special meanings. The candy cane(s) are given because, they are shaped like a bishop’s staff or a shepherd’s crook to remind us of St. Nicholas’s compassion and love for us humans. The oranges and chocolate coins are given because it helps us remember the story of the three daughters.

As Orthodox Christians and families there are activities we can do together during the Nativity season. Just as St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7, we should “give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” By encouraging our children to give cheerfully and generously to others we encourage them to follow in St. Nicholas’s footsteps during the Nativity season. Here are a few simple suggestions to kick start your family’s Nativity giving!

• December is a great time for “winter” cleaning! Go through clothes and toys and donate those that are no longer in use.
• Volunteer together at one of your favorite charities. This could range from working at a soup kitchen to collecting donations for an animal shelter.
• Many towns and schools host a “giving tree” or “adopt a family” programs. My daughters have always loved shopping for our adopted families!
• Share our St. Nicholas traditions with your friends and neighbors! Put together a basket with oranges, candy canes, chocolate, small toys for the children, and a note about St. Nicholas and leave it on the front step for them.
• Work together to make gifts for friends, neighbors, postal workers, teacher, and others! Make cookies, fudge, ornaments, jar cookie mixes… really the list is endless! Pinterest has many options for all skill levels.

Most importantly take advantage of family time to read together and discuss traditions and stories. One of my favorites is A Perfect Christmas by Dennis Eugene Engleman. In this story “past and present collide as a modern child meets the real” St. Nicholas and quite literally learns to follow in his footsteps. It’s a perfect story for a child struggling with his beliefs and overwhelmed by our culture’s materialistic focus of the Nativity season. For our church, I added this book to our Children’s Lending Library in the hopes it will be the catalyst for great discussions about giving among our parish families as well!

We will welcome St. Nicholas to our church during December. Just as he will share gifts with our children, they are preparing a gift for him in the form of a short play sharing one of their favorite St. Nicholas stories with both him and our parish family. Just another way for our children to share the spirit of St. Nicholas with our parish family and encourage them to follow in his footsteps as well this Nativity season!