FFH
About the Author

Pop vocal group FFH has released 13 projects, sold more than two million albums, and garnered 24 radio hits. FH’s first Christmas project, One Silent Night, is available now.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. We used to make a birthday cake for Jesus at church. I guess that’s popular though, I hadn’t ever heard of it, unless it was the new thing to do when I was a kid.

  2. The way we celebrated Jesus in an ordinary way this Christmas Season was this past weekend when our church distributed half of a semi truck full of produce to people in the community on one very cold morning. We prayed with the people, smiled at them, shook their hand and wished them a very Merry Christmas.

  3. We are choosing to be far away from family this Christmas helping to accelerate Bible translation in an area of the world that has over 200 languages without a Bible in their own tongue. Christmas will be different this year – but practical and especially meaningful.

  4. Our church celebrates Jesus in an ordinary way this Christmas Season by donating lots of clothes and making a meal for the Migrant Farm Workers.

  5. I’m choosing to wait for Jesus to come to me in the enormity of my financial problems in an ordinary way, instead of expecting one huge miracle. I’m choosing to listen to answers to my prayers and be obedient to whatever the “ordinary” answers are. I’m choosing to be happy to celebrate the birth of Jesus in an “ordinary” way with not much money, but lots of Praise and Thankfulness with the extraordinary family he chose for me. Amen!

  6. This Christmas season my husband and I are choosing to celebrate Jesus by truly recognizing that He is the reason for this season. It is not about presents, decorations, songs, trees, etc. It is about the mircale birth of Jesus Christ.

  7. I love the idea of just celebrating in an ordinary way by taking time to read through the story of Jesus’ birth. So powerful. =)

  8. Well – music for me is big – surrounding my surroundings with His praise is one.
    When I hear it – it lifts my eyes to Him.
    Angie from Boston

  9. Focusing on the Jesse tree readings, being grateful for what we have and spreading graciousness to those around us. Staying away from the mall and the spending time doing things with my children to remind them of the gifts we already have.

  10. I sit by my Christmas tree in the dark with only the Christmas lights from the tree glowing as I listen to my ipod and praise Him.

  11. We are not being sucked in to the commercial trappings of Christmas this year. We gave away our tree to a needy cause, we are doing forgoing spending money on gifts just because everyone gives gifts at Christmas. We did this last year and the relief was wonderful. It has allowed us to focus on the Advent season and really enjoy and celebrate the real reason for Christmas.

  12. As a kid we always used the advent calendar leading up to Christmas with verses to keep us focused on the reason for Christmas!

  13. My husband made this HUGE cross and drilled holes throughout and put in lights and we have that out on our lawn reminding us (and our neighbors) that although we celebrate the birth at this time ultimately it is the cross and redemption that is our focus!

  14. We are cutting back on gift giving this year, mostly because of a big cut in our finances. At first I was upset. But now I am feeling much less stress and enjoying the simple things.

  15. We can celebrate Jesus in the ordinary this Christmas, because we are making Christmas gifts instead of buying them. We’re not focusing so much of the material, commercial aspects of this season.

  16. I would love this album. You all were just up the road last week, but I was unable to make it! Blessings!

  17. We celebrate Christmas in a ordinary way by celebrating HIS birth, not acting as if we’re celebrating ourselves with gifts galore for each other. We read Jesus’ birth story leading up to Christmas, listen to Christmas songs and appreciate what the season brings us-snow!

  18. My kids are so used to seeing babies around them because so many of our friends are in the having-babies season of life. They’re only 4 and 2, but they can relate to the story of a baby being born. So we talk about that. And how Jesus grew up to be who we read about in the Bible. My 4 year old is grasping more than I realized she would. I love knowing her little heart is soaking in so much truth. We had a birthday party for Jesus this weekend with friends and are focusing on giving to those we love and those we don’t know who need help.

  19. We love to stop in the midst of the shopping, baking, and general madness of the season to be still and enjoy one another as a family. Besides my amazing salvation, my family is the greatest gift I could ever enjoy during this time of the year.

  20. I will celebrate Jesus in the season of love simply through of loving people. This is ‘ordinary’ for me, as God has put on my heart to love His people. Though we are met with much pain and suffering in this life, we must look to God for hope and find our joy in living every day.

  21. Listening and singing Christmas music, baking cookies, loving people, serving well… all with His strength, grace, and love!

  22. By reading and remembering HIS story, allowing it to settle and set the scene for what’s truly being celebrated. Looking for His hands in the ordinary of each day. Thank you, Jesus!

  23. We sit by the fire on Christmas Eve. We take turns reading parts of the Christmas Story out of Luke … then we have a “party by the fire” … afterward we watch The Nativity together. It is a wonderful evening ….

  24. We take time each day to read an advent devotional with my two granddaughters. It helps re-focus us on what is truly important during this season. Jesus!

  25. This year, I taking the time, to read the story and let it come to life…. letting Jesus be born in me all over again…. realizing that gift that HE truly is and sharing that hope and peace with everyone this season….

  26. This Christmas, I am trying to practice being more aware of being thankful for allGod has given me. whether I deem it as good or as a trial. Hard but necessary to have the true joy of being Christ’s child…

  27. We make sure that our children remember that Christmas is truly about Jesus’ birthday & giving to others..not what toys they “want”.

  28. We’ve been thinking a lot as a family of how “peace on earth” applies to how we relate to each other in our ordinary, every-day lives, especially as siblings.

  29. I want to celebrate Jesus in the practical ways of touching each other’s lives with a kind word, a gentle embrace, a soothing touch, a quiet whisper, a humble prayer, a warm meal, and a bright smile……and many more unsuspecting ways.

  30. We make a birthday cake for him, we do ministry together as a family on Christmas day, and we honor him above traditions in our house!

  31. I want to be able to touch my family from a distance…being alone…I want to be able to fully be with God and rest and meditiation on how I can be with my family and closer to God…God wants me to be happy.

  32. I think sitting down at a candlelit table listing to hymns and admiring the ways God has worked within us and the ways we want to serve him more is a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus

  33. Celebrating Christmas in an ordinary way by inviting a few friends for a birthday party for Jesus.

  34. I went to a beautiful Christmas Cocert and so enjoyed the high schoolers singing the most beautiful Christmas Hymns!!! Thanks and blessings, Barb

  35. Christmas Eve service, traveling to Illinois for Christmas, and get-together
    with about 100 family members for Christmas dinner.

  36. I heard someone say awhile back, “that when she hears people fussing about the Christmas lights coming up earlier and earlier every year and they fuss about the commercialism, she thinks of it this way:
    If those lights twinkling even in Wal*Mart point one person to the birth of Jesus then put those lights up earlier next year!!! So now when I look at the lights of Christmas I pray that they will point someone to the manger.

  37. We celebrate him by looking for needs in those around us, and finding ways to give to them. Friends just received 2 foster kids and need help with meals, so we’re cooking up a storm!

  38. Our family trys to celebrate Jesus in ordinary ways by taking time to focus on our Savior & others by following your heart and allowing God to use us in simple ways by sharing his love. In hugs, smiles, prayers, support, encouragement, helping hands, positive attitudes, etc…. By taking time for Jesus, Others, & You = JOY! Allow the Fruit of the Spirit to live in your heart w/love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control. GALATIONS 5:22

  39. Singing and teaching the christmas carols to our children – they tell the story in full in such a beautiful way. And they are an extraordinary ordinary part of every Christmas.

  40. I can celebrate Jesus in an ordinary way by simply loving on those around me. Cutting out all the extra and spending quality time with people!

  41. I’m trying to be aware of the enormity of Jesus’ coming by studying the prophecies of His coming as well as the birth accounts in Scripture.

  42. We are delivering goodies to neighbors and friends who are stuck at home or don’t have family nearby.

  43. My ordinary Christmas this year has involved singing songs of praise to the Lord, making nativity sets with the Turkana children that I know in the small African village where I live. I had the kids come to make cookies – a first for many of them – and we made some simple nativity sets and re-told the Christmas story to each other. This Christmas is a time of waiting for the Lord to reveal next steps for me and yet also just celebrating the present and where he has me for now.

  44. One of the simplest ways I am celebrating Jesus this year is sitting in silence by the Christmas tree being still and listening for God’s voice…There is nothing like His peace. Merry Christmas one and all!

  45. I am celebrating Jesus this year by making sure to remember why we celebrate Christmas. Instead of worrying about presents and spending money and all of those things that get in the way, I will be focusing on what is truly important, faith and family. I am counting my blessings this Christmas season and will be striving to always count my blessings every day.

  46. We have really been celebrating Jesus these past few months starting with wrapping shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, drinking hot chocolate by the light of the tree and a single candle while reading a special Christmas story, and by visiting a live Nativity scene. I wish this season would last longer, but it is gone far too quickly.

  47. Sharing the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas Eve, with friends who will be coming to dinner. I believe that is one of the best ways of celebrating Jesus is reading about His birth firsthand.
    koinonia572001@yahoo.com

  48. By pausing in the morning to still by the windsill and remember His coming. His first cry breaking the night, and bringing forth Light and Life for all. By remembering each night how fragile He allowed Himself to become as I hold and hug little newborns all around me.

  49. We celebrate Jesus by reading the Christmas story from Luke and then each year we have different people from our extended family share their testimony. It’s such a blessing to see the heritage that God is building through the generations.

  50. Trying to appreciate more of what I have and focus less on what I wish I had. To focus on the importance of spending time together as a family and how precious it is to be able to go to church together on Christmas Eve, to spend time with Grandparents and Aunt and cousins….time together and the ability to be able to create memories that are more priceless than material possessions.

  51. It is important to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. Slowing down, enjoying time with God, while remembering the Christmas story, helps us to focus on him.

  52. One of my favorite things is that we all get together and go the the Christmas Eve service together. I love the tradition of the candlelight service with Silent Night. 🙂

  53. Trying hard this year to “live Jesus”. It’s challenging when you’re surrounded by unbelievers in your family to make Him the center in any big way (of course we’re doing this on a more personal level), but I’m really working hard to soak in the Spirit during my quiet time and take that hope and light to the world in the way I live.

  54. We keep a large cut nail to remind us that the babe we celebrate is also the One who bled and died.

  55. We read the nativity story, play with our nativity toys, focus on how we can live to please the Lord on a daily basis, attend Christmas services and make a birthday cake for Jesus. Every year I have much bigger intentions, but busyness often sidetracks us. One of these years!

  56. by doing what I do every other month; loving on people at a low-income subsidized apartment hotel. We are planning a Christmas party for Friday, which we all look forward to every year.

  57. This Christmas is a lot quieter due to not so happy circumstances surrounding me and my life but as one blog post put it, it’s a great time for evaluating what’s really important in life and growing closer to Christ when the “other stuff” and distractions aren’t weighing so heavily on my mind (not that they’re bad – not saying that at all:).

  58. With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, we will celebrate Christmas like any other ordinary Sunday morning by worshiping Jesus in our beloved church with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Can’t wait!

  59. This Christmas season we are bringing Jesus into our everyday lives through Ann Voskamp’s Advent Devotional.

  60. This year we will celebrate Christmas together as a family on Dec. 22, because that’s when everyone could come to our home in PA.

  61. Having my kids come home for Christmas is something that I look forward to. I love to watch them enjoy each other. When we open gifts we open one at a time so that everyone gets to see what the present was. We start with the youngest, who gets to open one, the next oldest opens one, and so on. Our gift opening lasts a long time that way.

  62. This year we are attempting to take in the fullness of His birth by using the awesome eBook Truth in the Tinsel. My 2 and 4 year old have amazed me each night. They sing songs and talk about the previous nights lesson. My 4 year old anxiously awaits the days Advent activity as well as lesson and can’t wait to see what story we have to read from the Bible. Oh how important it is to take Him all in. Thanks for the (in)couragement to stay focused on His coming!

  63. Well so far my attempts at celebrating advent continuously are derailed. However we do read Christmas tales, notably: God gave us Christmas and The Very First Christmas from The Beginner’s Bible pretty much daily. We also play with our Nativity regularly and talk about the Greatest Gift of all Jesus. I think we’ll sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Day, my son LOVES singing Happy Birthday (he’s 2), I haven’t decided about a cake.

  64. I am celebrating the ordinary this year but trying my hardest to remain in the present moment as much as I want to worry and stress! By asking God to help me today, he placed an opportunity for me to help watch 2 children today to give their mother a 5 hr break. Their dad is deployed and she needed rest.

  65. In an ordinary way? Honestly, I’m not sure what that means. We talk about Him when we get up and when we lie down, when we walk along the road and when we sit down to eat… is that ordinary, or is that allowing the sacred to walk with us through the ordinary?

  66. I absolutely love listening to Christmas music this time of year. We love sharing devotionals with our family that are even more special this time of year.

  67. We celebrate Jesus in an ordinary way by making him a part of our ordinary lives. He is a natural part of our conversation, the reason behind our love, and the one who receives our steady thanks and praise.

  68. On our dining room table we have an advent wreath with 4 large pillar candles plus the white Christ candle in the center. We light it for every meal (yes, especially even at breakfast!), to focus on looking expectantly for Jesus’ coming. It seems to slow us down and make us more aware of how we can live more deliberately like Jesus. We picked up this tradition many years ago from our German exchange student when we were invited to spend Christams in his home in a small village in rural southern Germany. And always, Christmas music! Stille Nacht!

  69. I love FFH!! I would love to win their new Christmas album!! I love to celebrate Christmas by lighting advent candles, singing Christmas carols, praying in the dark by the light of the tree. LOVE this time of year!!

  70. I love saying “Merry Christmas” and not Happy Holidays. It’s so great to bring up Christ’s birth in any conversation!

  71. I like to read all the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth over and over, looking for something new and paying attention to detail, and just meditating on the amazingness of it all. The other day I was reading the account of Luke, and started in Chapter 1, and was so amazed at all the preparations for Jesus coming. Everything happened in perfect timing – Zechariah, Elizabeth’s pregnancy, etc. All preparing the way for Jesus.

  72. I read through a devotional each morning that is a collection of Christmas sermons. It helps me look for Christ in each thing I do during the Christmas season.

  73. Resting in the holy and wonderful miracle that our Lord came to be among us – enjoying the gifts of family and friends and truly celebrating life!

  74. Each morning, I have been reading an Advent devotional written by members of our church. With our children, we follow Mary’s journey to Bethlehem using the “Advent to Lent” wreath made by Ann VosKamp’s family.

  75. we celebrate christmas by celebrating the birth of jesus.we make HIM a birthday cake and wish our LORD a happy birthday

  76. The scriptures from Isaiah 61 and Luke 1 for the 3rd Sunday of Advent were eloquent reminders that the promise of Jesus’ birth was given to and through the ordinary. Isaiah, to Israel when they were down and out, “The Lord has chosen and sent me to tell the oppressed the good news,” and Mary, “How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. …He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” Two things, listening to daily Advent readings and Christmas songs and giving to others in need, help me to view the story from the perspective of my own very ordinary state and to make time and room in my life to joyfully receive his gift! JOY to you!

  77. I’m expecting our first child. In the midst of reading reviews on everything from cribs, diaper genies, toys, strollers, and everything in between, I find myself resting and thinking about Mary’s emotions at this same time. There she was, a teenage girl, just pledged to be married. Pregnant. About to birth our Savior!!! I know my excitement mixed with fear about my ability to be the best mother possible.
    If a stable and some swaddling clothes were enough for my Lord, why do I worry about the *things* my child HAS to have?? I look around my already cluttered home and recognize all I’ve already been blessed with.

  78. AT breakfast we open an advent calendar I made when our oldest was one years old. I cross stitched a picture and a verse to look up behind the door. That was now 29 years ago!! We still have two boys at home (10 yr and 14yr) and we enjoy breakfast together and read a little about the Christmas story everyday.

  79. Our family has 4 white pillar candles on the kitchen table
    and each morning of advent we light the candles (5AM)
    and the kids appreciate a visual reminder to keep our
    eyes and hearts open for Jesus that day….God with us.

  80. He’s invited me to take pictures of the busy–the regular-ish full schedule that I can’t seem to calm down. He tells me that He’s there, in the busy, and that I can rest into Him even there. And so, my eye opening is in the moment I choose to take a picture and See.

  81. We read our Advent book and I try to always remind my children about Jesus simple birth and that he should be most important in our lives. The commercialism of the season makes the focus difficult. As I see the children in their excitement, I find joy in the simple happiness of a child. God bless you, thank you for your music and Merry Christmas Blessings to you!!

  82. My church is offering a holiday dinner to the people who live in the community surrounding our building. I also participated in a Help-Portrait event and tried to really get to know the people who we were photographing.

  83. I’m celebrating Christmas this year by lighting candles and intentionally being still before the Lord. I’m inviting Him into the everyday ordinary of my life.

  84. Ordinary ways we celebrate Christmas occur in little ways because there is so much to fit in at this time of year, and I don’t want to add to the hectic schedule. Caroling at the nursing home only takes an hour or so and brightens up so many lives; reading a short inspiring Christmas story, listening to Christmas hymns, and incorporating a quick Advent devotion also keep Christ front and center.

  85. Today a bunch of friends got together to make oatmeal packets for the homeless shelter in our city. My kids wouldn’t think of anything special about getting a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast in the morning. But for these people to get a hot breakfast on a cold morning, instead of the normal bowl of cereal, will be a heart warmer for sure. A way we can be Jesus without even doing something that we might think huge, without all of the bells and baubles, without a word of recognition or the utterance of thanks.

  86. My ordinary way this year is to spread ” joy and freedom” to all I come in contact with! our church wil go caroling to local people and I always enjoy that.

  87. Our ordinary way of celebrating Christmas is to read the Bible story of Jesus birth. Them go to church for a prayer service.

  88. I love to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ by listening to songs like “Mary Did You Know” and Oh Holy Night. Only music that speaks of His great goodness and mercy! To GOD be the glory!

  89. I’m planning to attend our worship service on Christmas Day. There is no Sunday School that morning, and as a teacher, there will be no preparation that week so I can concentrate on celebrating the One Who has made everything possible!

  90. We daily remember in family prayers to focus on the real reason for this busy season and why Jesus is so important!

  91. Daily thanking my Lord for all I have. Not being consumed with “wants”. To help offset this mindset, I am working with a group to provide 12 days of blessings to families w/ children who have cancer. Each day a new “blessing” arrives on their doorstep and on that 12th day, Christmas Eve day, we will bring the story of Christ to life.

  92. This year we are avoiding the stores and the mayhem and snuggling in by the fire nightly and imparting to our children with books and even some movies. This year our focus is the cross under the tree.

  93. We focus on Jesus by doing daily devotions. We are also focusing on “giving” instead of “receiving”.

  94. I focus in try to make happy to Jesus, how, sharing with my family and put them as the most important in my life, because Jesus joy when the family are together with a purpose to adorate him, to expect, to wait and having faith in him.