Orthodox Christmas

This is my first year of celebrating The day Orthodox Churches have been celebrating for centuries. According to the calendar they follow, today would be December 25, so we are going to spend the day with Jim's family since we spent the OTHER Christmas day with my family. I am going to bring up what day it is and ask them to consider what gift in their lives they can give to the Lord this y ear. I'm not going to ask them to name it as I think they should really think about it, and not feel badly if they do not believe in the whole thing.

Anyone remember the movie "the littlest Angle"? I LOVED that movie as a child. Of course they have the doctrine all wrong but the meaning all right. Funny hadn't even started to go to church yet.

It had Johnny Whitaker in it (he was about 10 or so remember him?) and it was about him dying very young and going to heaven and it was "christmas time" and all the big angels were making the fanciest gold things, and beautiful jewels etc. He felt sad because he had nothing to give. He talked his guardian angel (who was helping him learn the role of being an angel) into letting him go back home and get his little box from under his bed holding all this simple little boy treasures, a special rock he found, a sling shot, a few other things. Very simple and crude.

The movie ends with him walking through all the fancy gifts, and angels kind of looking down on his gift as it was so little and rough, and of course the king saying it was the largest gift he had ever received because it was the most important things the child had.

I know I'm babbling but its because the gifts that God wants from us are not big huge things, its little things, its things from our heart, its reaching out to the poor, the homeless, whatever is done to the least of these is done unto me he has said.

So thats it...thats my orthodox christmas idea. I haven't formulated my gift  yet...will do so today at dinner when everyone is around. I have a million ideas, want to choose one that I believe he wants me to choose.