Making Traditions

My mother was asked to speak to a group of young moms at our church on the topic of Christmas traditions. Whoever had the job of picking someone to talk about this, hit the jackpot when they asked her. My mom is the queen of traditions. Intentional traditions. I could go on and on about the wonderful things she set into motion that have become part of the culture of our family. But I don't think it's about the specifics, I think it's about taking the time to choose your own meaningful traditions and keep them. It builds such solid memories, gives a sense of belonging, and bonds the family in a way that few other things do. And think about it, God was the author of traditions. Many times in His Word, He gave His people traditions to keep to remind them of who they were and who they belonged to.

The tricky part for our family was having traditions translate to the next generation. My family's and Steven's family traditions remain and have become part of my own children's history, and I love that. But I didn't want to fall into having my kids find their family identity only in our extended family's strong traditions. So we've tried to build our own traditions. Even the simple stuff seems to become so meaningful and important our little family.

One of those is our "fireplace meal." We decorate our house for Christmas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and that night we sit down to have a meal cooked exclusively in the fireplace. When Steven and I were looking for a house this past year, one of the things we wanted was a fireplace; and that specific meal was a huge reason for that. After the meal is finished, we pull the nativity out (the only decoration we've left in the box); and we give each of the kids a few of the pieces from the nativity. Then Steven reads the Christmas story. And when the kid's hear the characters that they have in their hands mentioned in the story, they go up to put it in the nativity. See, I told you it was simple. And yet, my kids seem to think it's the best thing.

Getting the fireplace up and roaring in the new house for the first time. (Ava was hidden on Daddy's lap)...



Fireplace meal...


The obvious dessert for such a meal...


Dad reading the Christmas story (note the iPhone Bible...we're raising 21st century kids here!)...




And our new tradition this year was Mom and Dad saving the cheese portion of the meal for after small people were in bed. Enjoying some toasted cheese, a bottle of vino, and some snuggling- yep, I think we'll definitely keep that tradition.

So, how about you? What's your favorite family tradition?