Some of our traditions are simple. When I was little, we celebrated Christmas Eve at my grandparents house, then of course, Christmas morning came at our house, and we celebrated there as well. My other set of grandparents came over in the afternoon. But when I got older, we moved away and we only celebrated Christmas with my parents and brother.
We had a strange, but neat tradition also, when we were small. My grandparents belonged to a club called the 'Turner's Club' which must have been a club where adults go to dinner once a month and had dancing. I had never been to this club, but what they did every year was to invite the children or grandchildren to sit on Santa's lap, not to ask for presents, but to thank Santa for the presents he supposedly brought. We would thank Santa, and they would give us this stocking filled with strange items like fruits and a few small toys. In my selfish mind, I was thinking of how much better it would have been if they gave us an actual toy instead of fruit and small toys! That is how an unregenerate mind works at the age of 7 or 8! But it is a memory I will never forget, even if I missed the point of it back then.
When I was 14, my dad decided to start a tradition of seeing the lights in a certain neighborhood in our city. Over 40 years later, my family still carries this tradition even though my dad has not been with us for 29 years.
Some of the other traditions we adopted are; baking gingerbread cookies and cinnamon bread, and giving them out to the neighbors (which has been challenging since no one ever seems to be home), having some kind of Christmas party with our friends, having a surprise Christmas dinner with presents from Saint Nicholas, formerly of Turkey, going to see a lighted house every year a couple of miles away, and going to the live Nativity every year at a nearby church (My dad also started that one when I was a teenager).
One other new tradition that I think is really helpful to the needy and also educational for children is to look forward to the Samaritan's Purse catalog, and go through it and find gifts to order for people in poorer countries. Some of these items help them to become sustainable so they can survive and live on their own. They even have toys for children in there to order for the children who live in these countries. The Christmas shoeboxes are the best though for kids. With this ministry, you can get a shoebox, or even a dozen, and fill them up with toys and necessary items for these children, and then take them to a drop off place. The boxes could end up in Uganda or Bolivia, or anywhere they are designated to go. They even have a tracking service so you can track your box and see where it goes. There are stories on Youtube showing children as they open their boxes and the blessings they receive from their gifts in the shoeboxes.
There are homeless shelters around town which would gladly receive a nice dinner or gifts of clothing for people to wear on interviews. Lots of children will be blessed by small toys like balloons or frisbies. One day I would like to be a Saint Nicholas formerly of Turkey gift giver to children.
Now that we are grandparents, we start Christmas on Christmas Eve morning with our children and grandchildren. This has been recent for about the last 5 years or so. We still celebrate Christmas Eve at my mom's house, just like we did at my grandparent's house years ago. On Christmas Day, we visit the other side of the family and exchange gifts there. Then we come home and play with our new toys!
This year, we started what we hope will be a new tradition. We participated as a church in the annual Christmas parade. We also used it as an evangelistic opportunity. It was very cool.
What are some of the traditions that you share with your family? What are some of the old traditions you share and what are some new ones that have recently been added?
No comments:
Post a Comment