Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #1148 - The 3 Levels of Christmas

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#1148 - The 3 Levels of Christmas · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

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  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 wants answers.
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  Speaker 2: Now missus Happy Families. I'm starting to feel the energy
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  Speaker 2: change in our family.
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  Speaker 3: Are you prepped? I no, don't ask me if I it.
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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
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  Speaker 2: the Happy Families podcast and today a podcast with a difference.
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  Speaker 2: A few months ago, we sought your feedback on how
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  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.
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  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 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. Yea, 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: connect with other people in a much more powerful way
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  Speaker 3: as a result of that knowledge. So maybe Christ isn't
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  Speaker 3: a part of your Christians, but maybe some of the
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  Speaker 3: things that we share today will help you understand how
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  Speaker 3: 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 a 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 2: holier Christmas. So let's dive into something called the three
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  Speaker 2: Levels of Christmas. This is not a justin course an original.
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  Speaker 2: I actually found it from a newspaper editor who wrote
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  Speaker 2: about it in nineteen eighty five in a book that
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  Speaker 2: I was reading, and I think that it's really really interesting.
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  Speaker 2: The three Levels of Christmas. Level one. We'll call this
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  Speaker 2: the Santa Claus level. It's the level of Christmas trees
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  Speaker 2: and colorful gifts and candlelight and a table full of
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  Speaker 2: prawns and seafood and salmon and and all of the lollies.
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  Speaker 3: When you were talking about over indulging at Christmas time,
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  Speaker 3: I just knew it was going to be prawns.
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  Speaker 2: I can't help myself. I really want to eat I shouldn't,
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  Speaker 2: but I really want to eat a lot of prawns
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  Speaker 2: 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?
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  Speaker 2: You don't need prawns.
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  Speaker 3: You I have since I started cooking them.
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  Speaker 2: You have started eating prawns in the last year or so.
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  Speaker 2: Are you saying that you like them.
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  Speaker 3: Now when I cook them?
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  Speaker 2: After all lifetime of not eating prawns, and now you
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  Speaker 2: want to you want to share my Christmas. You know what,
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  Speaker 2: it's Christmas. 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 2: Right. Oh my goodness, I see I've had I've had
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  Speaker 2: the lines share of all those good things for the
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  Speaker 2: last twenty plus years. And now you're saying that I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to have to share them.
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  Speaker 3: No, you can probably have all the olives.
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  Speaker 2: All right, yeah, okay, Well that's that's the Santa Claus level.
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  Speaker 2: That's Level one Christmas. And you know what, I don't
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  Speaker 2: want to I don't want to take away from the
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  Speaker 2: diminish it at all. We love level one Christmas. That's
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  Speaker 2: what we've talked about all week on the podcast and
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  Speaker 2: all last week 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 2: 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, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: One hundred percent. Now, Level two Christmas changes things a
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  Speaker 2: little bit. Level two Christmas is where we go from
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  Speaker 2: the over indulgence and the Santa Claus and all that
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  Speaker 2: kind of thing to the let's call it the oh
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  Speaker 2: Holy night, silent night level. It's where we get involved
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  Speaker 2: in not just the jingle bells Christmas carols, but the
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  Speaker 2: really meaningful Christmas carols of the story that starts now
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  Speaker 2: in those days there went out a decree from Caesar
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  Speaker 2: Augustus that all the world should be taxed. It's the
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  Speaker 2: level of the crowded in and the silent holy moment
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  Speaker 2: in a dark stable where Jesus came to earth. And
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  Speaker 2: I don't know about you, but when I think about that,
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  Speaker 2: it starts to transcend that level one. 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, and that's that's something
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  Speaker 2: that's really really special. Level three is different though. Level
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  Speaker 2: three is about saying that we can't leave Jesus in
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  Speaker 2: the manger. He grows up, He becomes an adult, he
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  Speaker 2: takes on the sins of the world. He dies for
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  Speaker 2: the world. And unlike Level one, where you kind of
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  Speaker 2: do get sick of it, you can't live that life
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  Speaker 2: of over indulgence for more than a day or two,
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  Speaker 2: otherwise you start to really really get sick. And even
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I can't sing away in a manger for
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  Speaker 2: more than a couple of weeks. Eventually I kind of
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  Speaker 2: get tired on I'm like, let's put that away for
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  Speaker 2: another eleven months. I'm looking forward to next Christmas so
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  Speaker 2: we can do it again. But the Level three Christmas
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  Speaker 2: is where we we say, I want to focus on
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  Speaker 2: Jesus gifts, the joy, the peace, the hope, what the
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  Speaker 2: 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 as we do, yes we do, but we
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  Speaker 3: celebrate the life. We celebrate the life of the ones
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  Speaker 3: that we love. And so at Christmas time there's this
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  Speaker 3: wonderful acknowledgment that for us, a belief that Jesus came
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  Speaker 3: to earth and he lived this life that allows me
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  Speaker 3: to live the life of privilege that I live and
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  Speaker 3: understand who I am in relation to him and how
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  Speaker 3: I want to live my life so that I can
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  Speaker 3: be more like him.
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  Speaker 2: That's beautiful, Kylie, that's beautiful. I've never actually thought about
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  Speaker 2: that for a year. When our kids have their birthday,
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  Speaker 2: we tell them their birth story, we celebrate their birth,
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  Speaker 2: and then we celebrate their life. And so at Christmas,
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  Speaker 2: what a perfect thing to do. That's how we can
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  Speaker 2: move to a level three Christmas. We think that that's
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  Speaker 2: really important, and so after the break, we're going to
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  Speaker 2: talk about a few ideas we've got and some of
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  Speaker 2: our listeners' ideas as well, about how to create a
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  Speaker 2: Level three Christmas for your family while still enjoying Level
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  Speaker 2: one and level two.
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  Speaker 3: It's the Happy Families podcast, the podcast for the time
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  Speaker 3: poor parent who just wants answers now, and today we're
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  Speaker 3: going a little bit rogue. We're sharing our thoughts on
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  Speaker 3: 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've 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, actually,
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  Speaker 2: it's all about the true many Christmas is all about Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: We are a Christian family, so for us, Christmas is
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  Speaker 1: mainly about the birth of Jesus and celebrating that. And
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  Speaker 1: on Christmas Day we ensure that we go to church
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  Speaker 1: in the morning when we get to spend time reflecting
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  Speaker 1: on the gift of Jesus.
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  Speaker 3: The meaning of Christmas is about Jesus and about the
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  Speaker 3: birth of Jesus. We do have carols at church, so
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  Speaker 3: we try and get the girls and our family involved
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  Speaker 3: in that.
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  Speaker 4: It's actually really important to us at the commercial side
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  Speaker 4: of Christmas doesn't overshadow what we're truly celebrating, which is
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  Speaker 4: that Jesus is the savior.
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  Speaker 3: Of the world.
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  Speaker 4: And that's such a beautiful, exciting day. Yes, because of
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  Speaker 4: the presents, but also because of what we're celebrating.
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  Speaker 3: We focus on Jesus. While we do give gifts to
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  Speaker 3: our children, we use this as a time of giving
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  Speaker 3: back to others.
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  Speaker 2: So let's just recap because I have talked about a
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  Speaker 2: number of things we were going to say, and we
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  Speaker 2: might just add to that just a little bit. First up, carols,
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  Speaker 2: they get to the very heart of what Christmas is
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  Speaker 2: 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 2: But you're going to say it was singing a rap
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  Speaker 2: rap rap. So we haven't actually done that a lot lately,
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  Speaker 2: but we used to do it a lot. I think
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  Speaker 2: we could probably re reignite that again. There's something special
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  Speaker 2: about knocking on the door of somebody and standing there
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  Speaker 2: and singing. It's really personal. You're really opening yourself up
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  Speaker 2: and it creates a lovely connection. The second idea that
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  Speaker 2: I think is worth touching on is the Nativity. Kylie,
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  Speaker 2: you love the Nativity, So.
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  Speaker 3: The Nativity would hands down be my favorite Christmas decoration.
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  Speaker 3: I may have a few of them.
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  Speaker 2: Time I turned around, It's like, is that the same
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  Speaker 2: nativity we had last year. And you say, hmm, well.
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  Speaker 3: We have the main one right my willow that is.
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  Speaker 2: The willow Tree Nativity is beautiful and.
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  Speaker 3: 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
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  Speaker 3: much since the beginning, because as soon as I realized
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  Speaker 3: that babies and ceramics don't go together, I knew that
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  Speaker 3: I could not could not have a Christmas without them
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  Speaker 3: being able to touch and feel and be a part
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  Speaker 3: of that process because it's such an important part of
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  Speaker 3: what we believe and how we choose to live our lives.
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  Speaker 3: And I wanted them to be able to hold and
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  Speaker 3: use their imagination. And so the Fisher Price Little Nativity
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  Speaker 3: is just beautiful for little fingers.
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  Speaker 2: So we have some friends who have joined up with
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  Speaker 2: other friends that they're not local unfortunately, so we can't
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  Speaker 2: do it with them. When of some families who get
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  Speaker 2: together and they actually do their own Nativity at or
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  Speaker 2: on Christmas or around about Christmas, where the kids are
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  Speaker 2: acting it out and everyone gets all dressed up and
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  Speaker 2: they really go to town with that. That's probably taking
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  Speaker 2: it to the next level that's like 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 satus stockings have come out,
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  Speaker 2: but that's about it. We open up Matthew and we
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  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 a spouse to Joseph before they came together, she
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  Speaker 2: was found with child of the Holy Ghost. And we
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  Speaker 2: read the Nativity. We read those first couple of chapters
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  Speaker 2: to really emphasize the importance of this for our children.
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  Speaker 3: And as some of our listeners suggested, number three is
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  Speaker 3: attending church.
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  Speaker 2: What a great thing to be able to go to
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  Speaker 2: church on Christmas Day and make that the centerpiece of
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  Speaker 2: your Christmas, or at least an integral part of it.
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  Speaker 2: The last thing that I really wanted to touch on
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  Speaker 2: that sort of came from the things that we've talked
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  Speaker 2: about over the last little while and from our listeners.
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  Speaker 2: It's just the importance to get to a level three Christmas. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: we get to spoil ourselves. Yes we sing all the
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  Speaker 2: songs and remember the baby Jesus. But if we're going
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  Speaker 2: to remember his life, the best way to remember his
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  Speaker 2: life is to follow his example, and that's by serving others,
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  Speaker 2: by helping others. And over the years we've done all
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  Speaker 2: sorts of things like having people in our home Christmas dinner,
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  Speaker 2: Christmas lunch, and we know many people who actually give
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  Speaker 2: up their Christmas to go and knock on doors and
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  Speaker 2: deliver hampers and feed the homeless and do all kinds
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  Speaker 2: of meaningful service to those who are in need. And
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  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, so giving, such so big hearted.
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  Speaker 3: That's my favorite part about Christmas, the opportunity to just
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  Speaker 3: look outside ourselves and find those who need some Christmas chere,
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  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
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  Speaker 2: the spirit of Christmas into your home over the next
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  Speaker 2: week or so. The Happy Family's podcast is produced by
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Justin Ruland from Bridge Media. If you'd like more information
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: about how to make your family flourish, you can get
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: all the details at Happy families dot com.
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  Speaker 3: Do you