Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #419 The 3 Levels of Christmas

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#419 The 3 Levels of Christmas · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

0:03
Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast. It's the podcast for the
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Speaker 1: time poor parent who just once answers now.
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Speaker 2: To get to a level three Christmas. Yes, we get
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Speaker 2: to spoil ourselves. Yes we sing all the songs and
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Speaker 2: remember the baby Jesus. But if we're going to remember
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Speaker 2: his life, the best way to remember his life is
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Speaker 2: to follow his example.
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Speaker 1: And now here's the stars of our show, My mum
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Speaker 1: and dad.
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Speaker 2: Only ten sleeps till Christmas Day, missus Happy Families. I'm
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Speaker 2: starting to feel the energy change in our family.
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Speaker 3: Are you prepped?
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Speaker 4: No, don't ask me if I am.
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Speaker 2: I was going to say, are you hello. This is
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Speaker 2: Justin and Kylie Coulson. I'm the founder of Happy Families
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Speaker 2: dot com dot you. We are your podcast hosts for
0:45
Speaker 2: the Happy Families podcast and today a podcast with a difference.
0:48
Speaker 2: A few months ago, we sought your feedback on how
0:51
Speaker 2: it can make the podcast better, and one piece of
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Speaker 2: feedback came through many, many times, a surprising number of times.
0:58
Speaker 2: We weren't quite sure what to do with it, because
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Speaker 2: we really are just here to talk parenting. But today
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Speaker 2: we're going to follow the feedback and do as so
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Speaker 2: many of our listeners have asked many people have included
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Speaker 2: to the fact that every now and again, Kylin and
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Speaker 2: I go to church. When I say every now and again,
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Speaker 2: I mean every Sunday, and we take our kids along
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Speaker 2: as well. And this is Christmas. And for the last
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Speaker 2: week or so, we've been talking about the meaning of Christmas.
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Speaker 2: We've been talking about what we're looking forward to for
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Speaker 2: Christmas and how we can help our families to have
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Speaker 2: a happy Christmas. Well, today we've decided that we're going
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Speaker 2: to go a little bit further. We're going to talk
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Speaker 2: about how to make Christmas holy for your family, because
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Speaker 2: this is something that we strive to do every single
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Speaker 2: year with our kids.
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Speaker 3: We know not everybody has Christ at the center of
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Speaker 3: their Christmas. But one of the things that I've really
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Speaker 3: appreciated over the years is having the opportunity to understand
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Speaker 3: and learn how other people do things. Yeah, it helps
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Speaker 3: me to be more respectful, it helps me to have
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Speaker 3: greater understanding, and it helps me to be able to
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Speaker 3: get connect with other people in a much more powerful
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Speaker 3: way as a result of that knowledge. So maybe Christ
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Speaker 3: isn't a part of your Christians, but maybe some of
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Speaker 3: the things that we share today will help you understand
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Speaker 3: how it is for other people.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, and if you want to have a more christ
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Speaker 2: centered Christmas, if you want to tap into the true
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Speaker 2: historical meaning of Christmas, at least as it's been for
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Speaker 2: a very very long time. I know that there are
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Speaker 2: going to be some people who say, ah, historically, actually,
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Speaker 2: there's some intermingling of other traditions and other things in there.
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Speaker 2: We're just going to focus on the Christian aspect of
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Speaker 2: Christmas in this podcast because we know that there's a
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Speaker 2: lot of people who have that faith background and who
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Speaker 2: probably would like to help their families to have a.
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Speaker 4: Holier Christmas. So let's dive into it.
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Speaker 2: Last week on the podcast, I mentioned something called the
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Speaker 2: three Levels of Christmas. This is not a justing course
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Speaker 2: on original I actually found it from a newspaper editor
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Speaker 2: who wrote about it in nineteen eighty five in a
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Speaker 2: book that I was reading, and I think that it's
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Speaker 2: really really interesting. Levels of Christmas. Level one we'll call
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Speaker 2: this the Santa Claus level. It's the level of Christmas
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Speaker 2: trees and colorful gifts and candlelight and a table full
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Speaker 2: of prawns and seafood and salmon and and all of
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Speaker 2: the lollies.
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Speaker 3: When you were talking about over indulging at Christmas home.
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Speaker 3: I just knew it was going to be prawns.
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Speaker 4: I can't help myself. I really want to eat.
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Speaker 2: I shouldn't, but I really want to eat a lot
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Speaker 2: of prawns this Christmas.
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Speaker 3: Well, you might have to share them this year? Who
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Speaker 3: with maybe me? You don't eat prawns, you I have
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Speaker 3: since I started cooking them.
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Speaker 4: You have started eating prawns in the last year or so.
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Speaker 4: Are you saying that you like them.
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Speaker 3: Now when I cook them?
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Speaker 4: After all lifetime of.
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Speaker 2: Not eating prawns, and now you want to You want
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Speaker 2: to share my Christmas You know what, it's Christmas.
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Speaker 4: I'll share them with you.
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Speaker 3: I even started eating olives, and I've determined that I
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Speaker 3: don't like green ones.
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Speaker 4: Right, Oh my goodness.
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Speaker 2: I see I've had the lines share of all those
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Speaker 2: good things for the last twenty plus years, and now
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Speaker 2: you're saying that I'm going to have to share them.
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Speaker 3: No, you can probably have all the olives, all right?
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Speaker 5: Yeah?
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Speaker 2: Okay, Well that's that's the Santa Claus level. That's level
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Speaker 2: one Christmas. And you know what, I don't want to
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Speaker 2: take away from the diminish it at all.
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Speaker 4: We love level one Christmas.
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Speaker 2: That's what we've talked about all week on the podcast
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Speaker 2: and all last week, and that's what we're going to
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Speaker 2: continue talking about because most of the world really just
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Speaker 2: loves Christmas because it's Level one and it's a bit
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Speaker 2: of over indulgence and it's a bit of a relaxation.
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Speaker 4: It feels good to have a Level one Christmas.
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Speaker 3: Well, it also brings everybody together usually, yes, yes, the
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Speaker 3: Level one is all about bringing people together.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent. Now Level two Christmas changes things
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Speaker 2: a little bit. Level two Christmas is where we go
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Speaker 2: from the over indulgence and the Santa Claus and all
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Speaker 2: that kind of thing to the let's call it the
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Speaker 2: Oh Holy Night, silent night level. That's where we get
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Speaker 2: involved in not just the jingle bells Christmas carols, but
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Speaker 2: the really meaningful Christmas carols of the story that starts
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Speaker 2: now in those days there went at a decree from
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Speaker 2: Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. It's
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Speaker 2: the level of the crowded in and the silent holy
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Speaker 2: moment in a dark stable where Jesus came to earth.
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Speaker 3: The star Subia.
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Speaker 2: It is the nerd love, debous and I don't know
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Speaker 2: about you, but when I think about that, it starts
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Speaker 2: to transcend that level one.
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Speaker 4: Level one is fun.
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Speaker 2: Level one is delightful, and we can't get enough of
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Speaker 2: Level one in so many ways. But there is something
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Speaker 2: deeper about a Level two Christmas.
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Speaker 3: I really wish she hadn't to stop playing.
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Speaker 2: And I played David Archiletter as well, which one of
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Speaker 2: our children is going to be listening to this and
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Speaker 2: just going, I love David archilt She's like a David
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Speaker 2: Archer Letter for Life kind of fangirl creepy, totally. Actually,
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Speaker 2: you know what my favorite Christmas Carol is? Now that
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Speaker 2: we're talking about that level two Christmas and I'm playing
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Speaker 2: the Pentatonics version, I love this one.
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Speaker 3: These guys are amazing.
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Speaker 4: I don't know how to do this with their voice.
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Speaker 4: Married did you know that your baby boy walk on?
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Speaker 2: And so Level two Christmas is really about saying, let's acknowledge,
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Speaker 2: let's recognize that there is something transcendent, something deeper about Christmas,
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Speaker 2: and that's that's something that's.
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Speaker 4: Really really special. Level three is different though.
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Speaker 2: Level three is about saying that we can't leave Jesus
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Speaker 2: in the manger. He grows up, He becomes an adult,
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Speaker 2: he takes on the sins of the world.
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Speaker 4: He dies for the world.
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Speaker 2: And unlike Level one, where you kind of do get
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Speaker 2: sick of it, you can't live that life of over
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Speaker 2: indulgence for more than a day or two, but otherwise
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Speaker 2: you start to really really get sick. And even I mean,
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Speaker 2: I can't sing away in a manger for more than
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Speaker 2: a couple of weeks. Eventually I kind of get tired,
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Speaker 2: and I'm like, let's put that away for another eleven months.
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Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to next Christmas so we can do
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Speaker 2: it again. But the Level three Christmas is where we
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Speaker 2: we say, I want to focus on jesus gifts, the joy,
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Speaker 2: the peace, the hope, what.
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Speaker 4: The adult Jesus brings into people's lives.
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Speaker 3: Well, and I think if you think about the way
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Speaker 3: we celebrate one another's birthdays, there's obviously an acknowledgment that
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Speaker 3: you were born. And in our house we share the
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Speaker 3: birth story. Yes we do, yes we do, but we
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Speaker 3: celebrate the life. Yeah, we celebrate the life of the
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Speaker 3: ones that we love. And so at Christmas time there's
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Speaker 3: this wonderful acknowledgment that for us, a belief that Jesus
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Speaker 3: came to Earth and he lived this life that allows
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Speaker 3: me to live the life of privilege that I live
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Speaker 3: and understand who I am in relation to him and
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Speaker 3: how I want to live my life so that I
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Speaker 3: can be more like him.
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Speaker 4: That's beautiful, Kylie, that that's beautiful. I've never actually thought about that.
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Speaker 2: But every year when our kids have their birthday, we
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Speaker 2: tell them their birth story, we celebrate their birth and
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Speaker 2: then we celebrate their life. And so at Christmas, what
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Speaker 2: a perfect thing to do. That's how we can move
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Speaker 2: to a level three Christmas. We think that that's really important,
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Speaker 2: and so after the break, we're going to talk about
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Speaker 2: a few ideas we've got and some of our listeners'
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Speaker 2: ideas as well, about how to create a Level three
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Speaker 2: Christmas for your family while still enjoying Level one and
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Speaker 2: Level two.
8:41
Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families Podcast.
8:44
Speaker 3: For a happier family, Try a Happy Families membership, because
8:48
Speaker 3: a happy family doesn't just happen. Details at happy families
8:51
Speaker 3: dot com dot au. It's the Happy Families Podcast, the
8:55
Speaker 3: podcast for the time poor parent who just wants answers now.
8:58
Speaker 3: And today we're going a little bit rogue. We're sharing
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Speaker 3: our thoughts on how to make Christmas Holy.
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Speaker 2: So during the week, we've been in touch with a
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Speaker 2: whole bunch of people who listen to the Happy Families
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Speaker 2: podcast and we just asked them, how do you really
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Speaker 2: celebrate the meaning of Christmas? How do you bring that
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Speaker 2: into your family? And we had no idea what sort
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Speaker 2: of responses we were going to get, but we were
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Speaker 2: really surprised with the number of people who said, you, actually,
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Speaker 2: it's all about the true many of Christmas is all
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Speaker 2: about Jesus.
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Speaker 5: We are a Christian family, so for us, Christmas is
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Speaker 5: mainly about the birth of Jesus and celebrating that, and
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Speaker 5: on Christmas Day, we ensure that we go to church
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Speaker 5: in the morning one week get to spend time reflecting
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Speaker 5: on the gift of Jesus. The meaning of Christmas is
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Speaker 5: about Jesus and about the birth of Jesus.
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Speaker 3: We do have carols at church, so we try and
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Speaker 3: get the girls and our family involved in that.
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Speaker 6: It's actually really important to us that the commercial side
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Speaker 6: of Christmas doesn't overshadow what we're truly celebrating, which is
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Speaker 6: that Jesus is the savior of the world and that's
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Speaker 6: such a beautiful, exciting day. Yes, because of the presence,
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Speaker 6: but also because of what we're celebrating.
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Speaker 4: We focus on Jesus.
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Speaker 1: Well, we do give gifts to our children.
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Speaker 3: We use this as a time of giving back to others.
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Speaker 2: So let's just recap because our listeners have kind of
10:19
Speaker 2: talked about a number of things that we were going
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Speaker 2: to say, and we might just add to that just
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Speaker 2: a little bit.
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Speaker 4: First up, carols.
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Speaker 2: I've already played a couple that are absolutely rippers because
10:27
Speaker 2: they get.
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Speaker 4: To the very heart of what Christmas is all about.
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Speaker 3: We might not be able to sing those carols, but
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Speaker 3: one of the things that we love doing with our
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Speaker 3: kids is actually going around yes to people who are
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Speaker 3: maybe a little bit lonely, they don't have family around
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Speaker 3: them at Christmas time, and just standing on their doorstep
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Speaker 3: and giving a bit of a rap rap rap and
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Speaker 3: then singing a few songs for them.
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Speaker 4: But you're going to say it was singing a rap
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Speaker 4: rap rap.
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Speaker 2: So we haven't actually done that a lot lately, but
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Speaker 2: we used to do it a lot. I think we
10:56
Speaker 2: could probably re reignite that again. There's something special about
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Speaker 2: knocking on the door of somebody and standing there and singing.
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Speaker 4: It's really personal. You're really opening.
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Speaker 2: Yourself up and it creates a lovely connection. The second
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Speaker 2: idea that I think is worth touching on is the Nativity. Kylie.
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Speaker 4: You love the Nativity.
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Speaker 3: So the Nativity would hands down be my favorite Christmas decoration.
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Speaker 3: I may have a few of them, and every.
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Speaker 4: Time I turn around, it's like, is that the same
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Speaker 4: Nativity we had last year?
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Speaker 3: And you say, hmm, well, we have the main one,
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Speaker 3: right my willow that is.
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Speaker 4: The willow Tree Nativity is beautiful.
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Speaker 3: And that's my pride and joy when it comes to Christmas.
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Speaker 3: I just love their depiction. But we also have our
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Speaker 3: little Fisher and Price one, yeah, which we've had pretty
11:45
Speaker 3: much since the beginning. Yeah, because as soon as I
11:48
Speaker 3: realized that babies and ceramics don't go together, I knew
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Speaker 3: that I could not could not have a Christmas without
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Speaker 3: them being able to touch and feel and be a
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Speaker 3: part of that process because it's such an important part
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Speaker 3: of what we believe and how we choose to live
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Speaker 3: our lives. And I wanted them to be able to
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Speaker 3: hold and use their imagination. And so the Fisher Price
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Speaker 3: Little Nativity is just beautiful for little fingers.
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Speaker 2: So we have some friends who have joined up with
12:19
Speaker 2: other friends that they're not local unfortunately, so we can't
12:22
Speaker 2: do it with them. But we know some families who
12:24
Speaker 2: get together and they actually do their own Nativity at
12:27
Speaker 2: or on Christmas or around about Christmas, where the kids
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Speaker 2: are acting it out and everyone gets all dressed up
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Speaker 2: and they really go to town with that.
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Speaker 4: That's probably taking it to the next level. It's like
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Speaker 4: level fifteen Christmas.
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Speaker 2: But one thing that we absolutely do is we sit
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Speaker 2: around the Nativity on Christmas morning and before we dive
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Speaker 2: into gifts or anything, the Sadu stockings have come out,
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Speaker 2: but that's about it. We open up Matthew and we
12:51
Speaker 2: open up Luke and we read, now the birth of Jesus.
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Speaker 2: Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary
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Speaker 2: was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was
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Speaker 2: found with of the Holy Ghost, and we read the Nativity.
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Speaker 2: We read those first couple of chapters to really emphasize
13:06
Speaker 2: the importance of this for our children.
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Speaker 3: And as some of our listeners suggested, number three is
13:12
Speaker 3: attending church. Our faith, we actually don't have Christmas so.
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Speaker 4: We don't have Christmas services on Christmas Day.
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Speaker 3: On Christmas Day really aggravates me.
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Speaker 2: I've been complaining about this for the last I don't
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Speaker 2: know how many years, at least ten or fifteen years,
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Speaker 2: and we've actually tried to just organize our own on
13:26
Speaker 2: Christmas Day a couple of times, which was met with
13:28
Speaker 2: varying degrees of discouragement from the leadership. But what a
13:33
Speaker 2: great thing to be able to go to church on
13:35
Speaker 2: Christmas Day and make that the centerpiece of your Christmas,
13:38
Speaker 2: or at least an integral part of it.
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Speaker 4: The last thing that.
13:41
Speaker 2: I really wanted to touch on that sort of came
13:43
Speaker 2: from the things that we've talked about over the last
13:45
Speaker 2: little while and from our listeners. It's just the importance
13:48
Speaker 2: to get to a level three Christmas. Yes we get
13:51
Speaker 2: to spoil ourselves, Yes we sing all the songs and
13:53
Speaker 2: remember the baby Jesus, But if we're going to remember
13:56
Speaker 2: his life, the best way to remember his life is
13:58
Speaker 2: to follow his example, and that's by serving others, by
14:00
Speaker 2: helping others. And over the years, we've done all sorts
14:03
Speaker 2: of things like having people in our home Christmas dinner,
14:07
Speaker 2: Christmas lunch, and we know many people who actually give
14:09
Speaker 2: up their Christmas to go and knock on doors and
14:11
Speaker 2: deliver hampers and feed the homeless. And do all kinds
14:15
Speaker 2: of meaningful service to those who are in need. And
14:20
Speaker 2: to be able to take your kids along and to
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Speaker 2: do that kind of work, I think is just extraordinary,
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Speaker 2: so powerful, so service oriented and so giving, such so
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Speaker 2: big hearted.
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Speaker 3: That's my favorite part about Christmas, the opportunity to just
14:33
Speaker 3: look outside ourselves and find those who need some Christmas cheer,
14:38
Speaker 3: who need to know that they are seen, heard and valued.
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Speaker 2: We really hope that these ideas help you to invite
14:46
Speaker 2: the spirit of Christ, the spirit of Christmas into your
14:49
Speaker 2: home over the next week or so. Tomorrow on the podcast,
14:52
Speaker 2: we're going back to level one. By the way, We're
14:54
Speaker 2: going to talk about budgeting and planning for Christmas and
14:57
Speaker 2: getting things right. It's actually going to be a really informed,
15:00
Speaker 2: of really interesting conversation and we can't wait to share
15:03
Speaker 2: it with you. The Happy Family's podcast is produced by
15:06
Speaker 2: Justin Ruland from Bridge Media. Craig Bruce is our executive producer.
15:09
Speaker 2: And if you would like more information about making your
15:11
Speaker 2: family happier, we have got an enormous Christmas sale happening
15:16
Speaker 2: in the Happy Family store starting tomorrow and going through
15:19
Speaker 2: to Christmas Eve. Details tomorrow on The Happy Families podcast