Almost every year, our family gathers around at Christmas time and reads a new Christmas story together. Over the years, we have gathered a large collection of favorites. Here are a few beautiful Christmas stories for the Christian family, perfect for reading together.
The Modern Magi by Carol Lynn Pearson features an older woman, Annabelle Perkins, who wants to go to Israel to bring her gift to Jesus, a little bronze lamb she’s had since childhood. While she starts saving up for the trip to give her gift at Bethlehem, God brings her a series of surprises along the way.
This story is heartwarming and gentle and full of the true meaning of giving as God upends Annabelle’s plans in a lovely and meaningful way
The Christmas Wish by Richard Siddoway is a deep, heartfelt story of forgiveness with a lot of small and large surprises along the way. Will Martin’s grandfather has died, leaving years’ worth of journals to Will and his grandmother. She discovers that her husband was keeping a secret about his whereabouts each Christmas Eve and sends Will on a mission to find out what it was. Along the way, he learns more about his grandfather and the true meaning of caring and giving and forgiveness than he ever expected.
This beautiful story hits several of the beats you may have come to expect of a Christmas story, such as the character learning the true meaning of Christmas and picking up a little romance along the way, but the journey is worth it as small revelations start to add up and you discover this story isn’t just another Christmas romance. It’s a powerful story of forgiveness and understanding and finding out the truth is rarely what we assume it to be. This book is a favorite.
The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott comes to us from the author of Little Women and contains three quiet little Christmas stories, “The Quiet Little Woman,” “Tilly’s Christmas,” and “Rosa’s Tale.” Each is a small gem from an earlier age about love and belonging and Christmas generosity. The first focuses on an orphan who wants to belong to a family. The second is about a poor girl who gives all she can without grudging and touches the heart of a lonely old man. The third is when a horse gets to speak in that legendary hour on Christmas Eve when animals can talk and finally tells her story. All three are lovely for a winter’s night.
Tidings of Comfort and Joy by T. Davis Bunn is another favorite. Marissa is sick and comes to stay with her grandmother during Christmas and hears the story of another time when her grandparents met in the aftermath of war in Britain, during a time of rationing and lack, and came together to help care for the town’s refugee orphans. Marissa learns about unselfishness and unconditional love as her grandmother shares her own discoveries with letting go of loss and giving herself in service to others. This story is a beautiful portrayal of how God works in our lives and heals us when we allow Him to and is one of the most heartwarming stories of Christmas I have ever read. It is a book that lives up to its name.
— Megan Payne
