Christmas Traditions

Christmas Traditions come and go. As I prepared to write this, I began by reading last year’s Christmas blog, A Heartbreaking Christmas. In that blog I wrote about the Christmas my sister and I lost our innocence which revolved around a family tradition that had started in my mother’s childhood. Every family has their own spin on Santa and Christmas in general. In some families, Santa wraps his gifts, others say elves don’t have time to wrap. Santa leaves one gift for each child in one family and fills the room with gifts in another.

In the 70’s Santa brought gifts and visited with the Walker family on Christmas Eve. The big guy slipped in when the Minnich’s (my friend Kathy’s family) went for a drive to see the lights. The Koontz boys down the street never saw him or heard him but woke to evidence that he had dropped in while they slept. Wrapped presents surrounded the Frasier Fir by the fireplace, and only crumbs remained on the plate of cookies they left. And the Pentecostal family who lived behind us said Santa never came to their house.

As an adult I find it sweet that my parents spent all that money on gifts for each of us six children only to give the man in the red suit all the credit for coming through with fitting gifts for all of us. The parents do all the work and a generous man who may or may not have lived centuries ago gets all the credit. But such is the tradition passed down from generation to generation around the globe.

Traditions surrounding the Christmas holiday are as numerous as the families on earth. A tradition I heard from my favorite author and podcaster, Andy Andrews is that they would bake a cake and celebrate Christmas Eve in honor of the birth of Jesus, the real reason for the holiday. Through the years all of us have heard of family rituals such as the father of the family reading the story of Jesus’ birth from the second chapter of Luke as the children sit and listen at his feet. A child reading T’was the Night Before Christmas or loading up in the family van to attend a Christmas service followed by a drive around town to see the lights are all traditions we have practiced or heard about. Extended family gatherings around an abundance of food—another family favorite–make for good memories for years to come.

Well, whatever your family traditions around this holiday may be, I hope you will take a minute to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Also, as those traditions change through the years, and as you reflect on your favorite Christmases past do not neglect the Christmas present and the family and friends who surround you this year. This Christmas may be an especially difficult one for you due to financial difficulties, illness, or the loss of a loved one. Know I will be thinking about you and praying for you and your family as you embrace one another in love. There is no sweeter time of year than when we gather around family and friends, giving tangible gifts, but more importantly the intangible gift of love.

If you have a comment or a tradition you’d like to share, please scroll down to the comments section and type away. I love to read your stories.

And as the jolly ole elf always says, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

*Photo courtesy of Nancy Browne