t’s Christmas-time! Our family is about as excited as it gets when it comes to holidays, and Christmas is definitely our favorite. But not for the reasons one might expect. For us, Christmas is not highlighted by presents, Santa or even Christ (I’ll explain this in a minute), but Christmas is a time for traditions, old and new, time with family and a time for giving.
Christmas, for us, is a time to invest in relationships and experiences. Around the holidays we tend to slow down a bit (this may not be true for you, but there does seem to be more opportunities to spend time together…agreed?). We love the Christmas parties (but seriously need to up our ugly-sweater game), the cookie exchanges, white elephant gift and sledding parties, and Christmas Eve church services. These times of togetherness are what we relish during this season.
Sure we revisit the history of St. Nicholas, and our kids know this is where the modern day Santa Clause stems from…this year we even integrated a little Christmas geographical history and studied a few different countries and their Christmas traditions. Germany was big this year as the kids colored their Christmas advent countdown, each ornament seemed to resemble the Germany flag…sure-why-not? They loved the idea of Nikolaustag where kids would leave a shoe out and either receive a present or a rod the next day (St. Claus day, December 6th).
We’ve integrated many Christmas traditions throughout the years, always trying something new and always keeping something the same. Some traditions stick, while others don’t, but we’re always thankful for new opportunities. This year we got a little out of hand with the size of the Christmas tree! We’re also conscious of keeping our kids from getting sucked into the “consumerism of Christmas” by keeping their “wanters under control”. We focus on gift-giving, over gift receiving. And, so far? They are more blessed to give than to receive.
Some of our traditions that top the charts have been Truth in the Tinsel, What’s in the Bible’s Holy Week Devotional and Sarah Mae’s “More than Candy”. One year we even decided to forego gift giving and bought some livestock for a village in a third world country. Next year I fully intend to adopt this awesome gingerbread house decorating party, so simple, yet so fun!
For us, the “stuff” we do is the least important (and if you ask my oldest son what his favorite thing about Christmas is, he’ll tell you it’s spending time with family). One of our “every year” traditions is to go over to Auntie and Uncle’s house (before our own present mayhem), for breakfast crepes. Every year I quietly snicker (loving and soaking up every minute) and watch my husband and sister-in-law argue about the recipe. This has everything to do with sibling rivalry and nothing to do with the recipe itself...which they both know full well! After exchanging a few presents and filling our bellies with a yummy breakfast, we sit down and work on the annual Christmas jig-saw puzzle while the kiddos crazily play with their cousins (the adults may act equally as childish, just not so noisy…maybe!).
All this being said, the root of our Christmas truly is found in Jesus. We celebrate His birth and give thanks for the gift He came to bring us all. However, celebrating and giving thanks for this gift isn’t that different than any other day, as Christmas is not the one day a year Iwe recognize and give thanks for this gift…this is something that is part of our every day. This is the foundation for our Full of Days life. So we do find that Christmas is special because of the traditions we take part in, the fun we have, the cherished time with family and loved ones…it’s these memories that are lasting, the birth of Christ and His gift of eternal life is ever present, but these fun traditions are looked forward to, anticipated, and relished in!
Of course, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the fact my husbands birthday falls on Christmas Eve…so all the merriment of Christmas and the surrounding traditions pale in comparison to the exuberance we exhibit the day before! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE HUBS! YOU’RE STILL MY FAVORITE!!!
From Full of Days, and from our family to you and yours, Merry Christmas!
