Christmas Traditions

Christmas at our house is a time with many traditions. Some have been carefully chosen and repeated and others have come into being because "we always do it this way." Two have to do with the Christmas tree. Some years we've gone to a tree farm and cut down our own tree, others we've gotten nearby at Lowes. But no matter where we choose to go one thing is always true: It must be "just the right tree". The CHOSEN TREE must pass the family inspection and be tall but not too fat, full but not any gaping holes, fresh and green but not too expensive. Now that there are eight of us offering opinions this can be an interesting experience. Even if one of the first trees we view seems like a winning candidate we must press on and consider others just to make sure this "tree" can be worthy of coming home with us. We have many family memories of all going together to pick out the winner.

Our other tradition began thirty years ago this Christmas. In 1978 I gave a Christmas tree ornament to Ed when we were in college. Each year we began giving each other a Christmas tree ornament. When we were married 3 years later we only had a handful of ornaments to put on our very first Christmas tree. But gradually our assortment began to grow. When our children came along we began giving them an ornament each year. These ornaments were usually purchased on the day after Christmas at 50% off and then stored away to be given out Thanksgiving weekend the following year. Sometimes an ornament would remind us of something we did in school such as Nathan's replica of the Wright Brother's plane which we found at the Smithsonean museum the year we traveled to Washington D.C. Each ornament is kept in it's original box which has been dated and marked with the recipient's name. When we put up the tree we are all reminded of the many years gone by and the way that the ornaments tell a story about our family. I always enjoy removing each individual ornament from its box and reading the inscription and being reminded of that particular Christmas. Now that the kids are young adults it is especially meaningful to cherish the handmade ornaments from their childhood or ones containing photographs from when they were very young. But about ten years ago I realized that if I didn't continue to pick out a new one for myself each year, my tree would soon be empty again as I had planned all along to give them their ornaments when they married and left home. Unlike our first Christmas they would be able to have a couple of dozen ornaments on their first tree. So seven Christmases ago all of Justin's precious ornaments traveled from our home to hang on his first Christmas tree with Christine. Now my day after Christmas shopping includes Carter and Tyler and of course, Christine. I can just imagine another decade from now all the new stories we will be able to recall from looking at the ornaments that will represent these years.

Sometimes when everyone else is asleep I like to sit and study the tree. As I gaze from ornament to ornament I am reminded how faithful God has been to our family through the years and what wonderful times we've had together as our family has grown. I know I am very sentimental but being reminded each December of the years gone by helps me to realize how important it is to trust God with our future as we have in the past. Little children do grow up. Though it doesn't seem possible that second grader will really graduate from high school. Take the time to make special memories with your children through the many traditions that abound at Christmas time. When you look back in years to come you will have many memories in your storehouse and know the joy of continuing them with the generation yet to come. ~ Brenda Edwards

Christmas Traditions

Growing up I have very many fond memories of Christmas. As a kid it was all about the presents and waiting for my parents to get up was like torture. My sister and I couldn't wait to completely devour all the gifts that were under the tree for us. I have a lot of funny memories from Christmas time too. Like the year my mom let me help her wrap presents for my sister and I told my sister everything she was getting. We laugh about it today but needless to say I wasn’t allowed to know what anyone was getting for many, many years.

Having a family of my own there are little things we like to do every year. Like getting a new ornament for the tree. As the years have gone on the criteria has changed for picking the ornament. We used to just get one with the year on it but there wasn’t really any significance to the ornament. So we started to only buy an ornament that represented the past year. For instance, last year Craig was deployed so we ordered an ornament from a special site for military families. It had his name, the year, and the country he was in. And since he was gone at Christmastime it was the perfect ornament for our tree.

And putting up the tree in our house is a special event too. We have Christmas music playing and the living room is full of decorations. After I put the lights on the tree and dad puts the star on top the children begin to hang ornaments. When we get to our family ornaments I enjoy sitting on the couch handing them out and hearing the children talk about each one as they get hung. I can’t wait to get our ornament this year. The Lord has blessed us with many great things this year and choosing the right ornament will be difficult…..or will it :) . ~ Sharlyn Eddy

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas traditions! They knit our family together and form the fabric of our lives as year after year we emphasize what is important to us. I never realized how many “little things” we repeat annually until Alissa laughingly said to me, “You guys have a lot of traditions!”

Some traditions, like receiving a special ornament in our stockings yearly and recalling Christmases past as we hang them on our tree, are from my childhood. Others, like finding new pjs on the bed after the kiddos’ Christmas Eve bath, are from Chris’ family. Then we have some of our own… like the not-all-that-successful-but-I’ll-die-trying tradition I’ll share with you today.

Every year, we attempt to build a gingerbread nativity. It is part of our annual Christmas unit study for school. I am not a gifted baker nor am I crafty, but we give it a go each Christmas. The unit is Christ-centered and fun, including songs and Bible readings to accompany each day’s assignments. Over the course of the month we bake, assemble and decorate the stable, animals, stars and even a gingerbread Jesus. I regularly burn the cookies and the whole stable collapsed on Mary and Joseph one year, but that has become part of the fun.

There are meaningful lessons being subtly communicated through this not-so-perfect tradition. Christmas is about Christ, not our perfect displays. Sometimes, things don’t turn out as we plan… and that’s part of the fun in life. And no matter how bad a situation (or gingerbread nativity) may look, something good can always come out of it.

What good comes from our misshapen nativity? No, we don’t eat it. We do something better. The boys get to burn it after Christmas! (I hope that isn’t sacriligous!) I guess that could be a lesson, too. The only part of Christmas that’s sacred is Jesus Himself. However you celebrate, keep Him central! Merry Christmas! ~ Allie Olsen

Christmas Traditions

Traditions link us to our heritage and connect us to the future. They remind us where we came from and the people who’ve helped shape us.
Traditions are gifts we give our children and grandchildren coming after us – an unspoken connection to future generations. They also remind us God is faithful. In the Old Testament, the Israelites would build monuments (an ‘ebenezer’) to teach younger generations about God and His saving actions for His people.

Christmas traditions can be strong reminders of God’s faithfulness. One tradition our family loves is reading the Christmas story. On Christmas morning, with only the light from the Christmas tree, we sit together and listen to the account of the birth of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. Little boys sit in our laps, and big boys sit close as Kellett reads the story from long ago.

We’ve all heard the story many times, but I need to hear it again this year...next year...and the year after that. You see, I seldom forget the trappings of another season, but sometimes I forget that I really need my Savior.

Traditions remind me what matters. Jesus came, because I wouldn’t come to Him. Jesus saves, even though I’ve tried to save myself.

I hope as we gather this year under the tree, we remember again God’s kind gift of His Son...our Savior. ~ Adrea Thomas

Christmas Traditions

It’s been said that, “God created us for his glory and gave us a character that longs for traditions”. However, this frantic pace that we have grown accustomed to and highly mobile society we live in often times robs many families of any sense of tradition, much less any cherished traditions of their own. Yet, for the sake of our families let us ask God to help us cultivate those traditions that will hopefully be passed down from one generation to another.

This Christmas season may God fill our hearts afresh with a desire to pass on
motivational, instructive and practical traditions and patterns based on a biblical affirmation of faithful traditions for God’s glory and our joy. May God allow these traditions to be a means to produce sweet memories and a deeper love for Him and our families.

So join us this week as we hear how others have cultivated Christmas Traditions and tell us about yours as well by leaving a comment. ~ Rhonda Calabello