How "The King's Christmas List" started

I thought some of you would be interested in hearing a little bit about my background and how this story began to grow over 8 years ago now...

Going "way back", I graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1991 with a degree in English Literature, and my parents thought I had lost my mind when I turned down UCLA and Georgetown Law to go to Siberia! They probably had a point—but I had a chance to go work with a church that was coming out of the darkness of Communism and I wanted to make a difference. Wow, that seems so long ago now. But the experience was amazing, so I then spent the next six years as a Harvard University Chaplain and as the Boston Metro Director for Real Life---a campus fellowship with over 400 students involved not only at Harvard, but also on campuses such as MIT, Boston University, and Boston College. During my time there, I had the awesome privilege of leading teams of college students to share their lives and their summers in places like South Central L.A., Uzbekistan, and Kyrgzstan (Central Asia).

When I met my soon to be beloved wife, Kristen, in 1998, I had started my own non-profit organization (RISK—Relationships In Serving Kids), but quickly realized that though I loved ministry, I hated raising money…not a recipe for success when starting a family! So after we got married in 1999, we moved to Sarasota, Florida (to be near Kristen’s mom and dad) and I started my own small business in consulting and real estate. By 2000, we were expecting our first child, and in 2001 my sweet little Emma Rose was born. It was that year, as I faced my first Christmas as a dad that “The King’s Christmas List” was born inside me.

I will never forget driving home from work in December 2001, listening to NPR, and hearing a socialogist talk about his study of rituals:

“Every culture has rituals that inculcate in the children the most deeply held values of that society. American culture has but one TRUE ritual, where everything stops—songs are sung that everyone knows by heart, feasts and parties are the norm. Of course, this ritual is Christmas and it is very effective at inculcating American materialism into our children."

I still remember the chill that ran up my spine—as the sad, ironic truth hit me hard. I was determined not to let Jesus’ birthday be used to teach his littlest children to be more concerned with “getting” than giving. Thinking about my own powerful, early memories Christmas, I decided I wanted to create a new family tradition, a “ritual” per se, that would give kids a fun and meaningful way of experiencing the true spirit of Christmas, and the true Spirit of Christ. I was determined to change Christmas for my kids, and I could only hope, that someday, it might help other families do the same. (to be continued)