Nontraditional Traditions

Are you placing more emphasis on your Christmas being Merry or on it being Meaningful? Now that can be a loaded question. No need to take cover, no shots are being fired. One of my devotions placed emphasis on that question and I had already been thinking about this post. I considered it confirmation and so here I am. I love Christmas and I hate stress but somehow the two often get linked. I have to be intentional about why I love Christmas. It's because I love the miracle of the Christ child's birth and all it represents to me as a Christian woman. It is also because I love the music and smells of the season. O Holy Night can bring me to tears, its my favorite Christmas song, I have several renditions on my play list. It's also a chance to really hang out with my children and people I love. Trying to find a few perfect gifts for the ones I love simply makes the time a little sweeter. 

What makes the time special are the little things we do. They aren't necessarily unique to us and our home but they are the things that bond us and keep us centered. Those are the family traditions that we have adopted over the years. As the children have gotten older, some things have gone away and been replaced and others remain in place. You can always introduce a new tradition, there is no limit to what your family can do to make your Christmas special and unique. My hope is not only that these things will be passed on but that my children will look back on those moments and cherish them  in their hearts with fondness.

These are some of the things we do:

       1. The Christmas tree always goes up the first weekend in December. We only have one tree. The decor can change from year to year. It must come down by New Years Day.  My grandma said every year should have it's own tree. It works for me. 
       2.  We purchase one personalized ornament every year. Everyone in the house goes on the ornament-yes even the dogs. My favorite one is from the year my cousin was living in our basement with her dog and we had two dogs of our own. That particular ornament is a Christmas tree and every one's name made it on an ornament. Adorbs. 
       3.  My children build gingerbread houses/villages/ninja people. I love that. They have gone from little messy homes to neat ones with lots of thought, care, and precision. They make up some of my favorite candid pictures. Last year my daughter even had several friends come and they did theirs at our house to. They had theme and got a little competitive. That warmed my heart. 
        4. Pajamas are given on Christmas Eve night. We stay in them all day on Christmas. Let me not forget that there will be a photo shoot of  my minis in said pajamas. The beauty of that is I can really see how much they've grown and changed over the years. Now there is is a moment of nostalgia for you. 
        5. Our stockings give us life. Everyone has to contribute to the other family member's stockings. There is no real limit to what one can do. For some reason, it has become one of the best parts of our Christmas celebration. Normally, I put favorite candies and small gift cards into them. One may find purse sized items or any number of unexpected items in the stocking. I usually find mini bottles of spirits and lottery scratch-off tickets. Yes, I like going into mine as much as they do. 
        6. We do a huge breakfast on Christmas morning and a very non-traditional meal in the evening. Dinner can range from surf and turf, to Italian, to very heavy appetizers. That appetizer meal was one of my favorites. 
         7. We no longer do a birthday cake for Jesus. We used to and we'd sing "Happy Birthday" and everything. We tried doing cupcakes but there was less enthusiasm for that tradition as the kids got older. 
         8. This year, I am introducing a new tradition. Unbeknownst to him, my son will be reading the original Christmas story straight from the book of Luke. 

There are tons of other things that can be done. Remember Christmas is more about giving than receiving.  It's a lesson I tried to instill early on so that my children will always find that being charitable is in style, no matter what you have going on personally. I would love for you to share some things your family does to make the season personal. Some things seem insignificant but you really don't know the impact you are having on your children till they get older. 

I hope you find the real true meaning of Christmas reflected in all you do. Take a moment each day to reflect on God's love and be intentional about sharing that love. The world is in dire need of seeing Christ in you. Not sure if I will post again before 2016, so please have a safe and blessed Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa. If you find that you are lacking, choose to begin a tradition and make it happen annually. Don't look back and see that you had a Merry Christmas without meaning. You want to look back and see A merry Christmas filled with the meaning of the season. Jesus is the reason for the season and without Christ, There'd be no Christmas. 

Merry CHRISTmas to you and your family. May 2016 be filled with the best and brightest blessings that God can bestow upon you! 

In Diva Love,

Pam