I was reading this month’s Today’s Christian Woman magazine’s article "The Adventure of Advent" and I loved the easy 9 ideas for transforming the season by Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence & Kelli Trujillo. My favorite ideas were:
Journey to Jesus – Set up your Nativity scene and placing Mary & Joseph as far away from the under the tree "Bethlehem". Then, daily, move Mary & Joseph closer to the manger. They suggest to not add the baby Jesus to the scene until Christmas day. * I also like the way Kati has her wise men set up in the distance and not in the manger. *
Darken Your Dinner – Use candle light during dinners and avoid using electricity. Read John 1:9 then eat by candlelight as you reflect on the darkness of life without Christ and then discuss the meaning of waiting for Jesus, the Light of the World.
Simple Meals – eat simple meals leading up to the Christmas Feast.
After reading an article like this, it gets me starting to think again about making the Christmas Season simple and more meaningful. I love hearing of family's Christmas traditions. Partly because perhaps I'll hear of an idea that I'll want to start in my own family. One of my favorite family traditions growing up was baking cookies and then my sisters and I would deliver them to people who had to work on Christmas Eve or Christmas. Since we lived on a military base, my mom would send us in to sing to the service men who had duty on Christmas Eve. One of my favorite memories is (Deborah at 5 years old and Jen and I at age 8 or 9) singing and delivering Christmas cookies to a serviceman at the base gate. The gate was in the middle of nowhere and it was a very dark night. Skaggs Island Military Base near Sonoma & Vallejo was pretty small so the traffic on a holiday was far and few between. We sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas" in our quiet shy voices and he was as thrilled as a boy in a candy store. His eyes lit up and when we were done he wanted to teach us how to sing the song in Hawaiian. I am sure it was a joy for our mom to watch from the car.
One idea that I think I'll talk to Josh about is opening gifts on the evening of Christmas Eve. The more and more I think about it, I like the idea. Not because I would get my gifts sooner, but because then the actual Christmas holiday can be spent with family and there is more time reflecting on our Lord.
I also want my gifts this year to be more meaningful and since this year, I can't afford getting gifts for everyone I know, I hope to make gift giving be more personal and special.
What are your favorite Christmas family traditions? Have you heard of any new traditions that you would like to start with your own family? I would love to hear your imput. Leave me a comment!
5 comments:
From Mom
One "tradition" that happened by accident when the kids were growing up was that the Christmas celebration got spread out over two weekends. But it ended up being a really good thing. Christmas is so hyped and anticipated, especially for children,that one day simply can't live up to its expectations. All the gifts, and sugar, and busy-ness just left the kids numb and shellshocked. So spreading it out into several celebrations at different homes on different days really helped them (and us) to savor the moments - to really enjoy the time with loved ones, truly appreciate each gift, and to genuinely celebrate Christ's birth. In olden times there really were Twelve Days of Christmas. Because after all, what we're celebrating does deserve to be acknowledged for more than just a day.
Thank you, Mom!
Not that I recommend this, because frankly, it annoys me. But a tradition we've taken on since being married and having Ben, is that when decorating the Christmas tree we HAVE to, and by saying have to, I mean we HAVE TO play Pacman's Christmas. It is a long standing Padgett family tradition, that every single one of Jared's sibling's now do with their own kids, just as his parents did with them. So, we each have a copy of it and it gets played every year. It is the silliest thing I have ever heard, but hey......what kind of wife would I be if I messed with tradition?
What is Pacman's Christmas? Never heard of it :)
It's a musical type thing featuring Pacman, Mrs. Pacman and baby pacman....pacman as in the video game icon.
Maybe I'll have Jared make YOU a copy for your Christmas enjoyment.......I'll see if I can find it for you.
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