This is part of the series The Gifts Of The Holidays: Celebrating Thanksgiving And Christmas. Read more from the series!

One of our Christmas Day traditions is the reading of the birth narrative.

In my imagination, this is a serene setting, the tree aglow, all the children sitting quietly as I read the story of Christ’s birth from Matthew and Luke from my study Bible.

In reality, the scene isn’t so tranquil.

Our kids range in age from 12 years to 12 months old. And we have five of them. You can imagine how hectic our Christmas morning can be.

Here’s a glimpse of our typical Christmas.

Our Christmas Eve is full of excitement and gift wrapping, followed by an evening Christmas Eve service. Our Christmas Eve dinner is cocktail shrimp and a couple of dips and cheese balls. Very healthy, I know…

The next morning, our kids wake up to the smell of pancakes, bacon and eggs. We eat a family breakfast together before even thinking about opening gifts.

After we eat, we gather together in the living room. The rest of the morning will be filled with digging through stockings and opening gifts. Family visits and Christmas dinner occur later in the afternoon.

But right in the middle of all this, we slow down and read the Christmas story. Getting all five kids to sit still long enough for the story usually requires a valiant attempt, and seldom lasts through the entire story.

So right now, we read the story from a children’s Bible. This does two things: it’s short enough to help hold the younger kids’ attention long enough (mostly). And it simplifies the story so all of us can understand and follow it.

This year, we will read it from the Simple English Bible, a translation that keeps things simple and easy to understand. It’s based upon a third grade reading level, and so it’s fairly easy to follow along.

The rest of our day will be busy and hectic. Taking the time to read and remember Christ’s birth helps us keep things in perspective.

Do you read the Christmas story during your celebration of Christmas? How do you go about it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.