Family Traditions - Part 3 ... by Karen D.

My in-laws host our family every Christmas for lunch. There are certain things that are traditional and make Christmas with them very special. We always have hot apple cider, ambrosia (a recipe passed down from my mother-in-law's mother), electric bells ringing on the front porch when we walk up to the house, and a Christmas pageant starring all the grandchildren. Even though the oldest grandchildren are teenagers and you would expect their enthusiasm to wane, they are eager to participate. They look forward to dressing up, playing their roles, and reading the story of Jesus' birth from Luke.

Family Traditions - Part 2 ... by Karen D.

Another of our family traditions is watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" together. We make it our own by adding homemade hot chocolate and popcorn. Let's not forget pajamas and blankets spread on the floor in front of the TV.

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How about luminaries? Our neighborhood does them every year, but according to tradition, only the men in our family set them out and light them. Then as a family, we drive through the neighborhood to "Ooooh" and "Aaaahhh."

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We have seven children. Christmas morning is a little chaotic with seven children. Years ago, my husband and I decided that we needed a plan to keep the children from running wildly down the stairs and ruining the surprise before we had a chance to yawn, stretch and rise out of the fog of sleepiness. Here is our plan: the children are instructed the night before that they are not to get out of their beds when they wake up. Instead, they can sit up and begin singing a carol of their choice. As others wake, they join in. When we are awake, we call them to our room and all nine of us sit on the bed and listen to Daddy read Jesus' birthday story. This is followed by agonizing stalling techniques by Dad and Mom. We hav eto brush out teech, find out socks, use the bathroom, fuss with our hair, etc. All the while the hcildren are giggling, moaning, and jumping up and down with anticipation.

What are your family traditions? Which new ones are you going to start this year?

Family Traditions - Part 1 ... by Karen D.

Every year before the Christmas season can truly begin, there is one thing that MUST happen. My mom and I share a box of chocolate-covered cherries. We savor the ooey-gooey-ness of them and recognize this as the official start of the merriment. By the way, they must be the kind with the white cream surrounding the cherry, not just the liquid. If you enjoy chocolate-covered cherries the way I do, you will understand the importance of this seemingly small detail

This is a small family tradition we enjoy. It takes almost no time, energy, or money, but it is very important. That's the way traditions work. Sometimes they just happen over time and you never really realize when they sneak up on you and become a part of who you are. Other times traditions must be deliberate and intentional. Allow yourself and your family to be overtaken by those surprise traditions but also be willing to be deliberate about others.

In order to get the creative juices flowing, here are a few of our family traditions. May they be a jumping off place for you. Please inspire us with yours also. If it's too long to post in a comment or you have a picture to go with it, email it to CelebratingChristmas@gmail.com.

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~The Vest Tradition~

I was a teenager helping my mom clean out her closet. I held up a black vest and assumed she was ready to trash it. She refused to throw is out; after all, "It will probably come back in style." In my authentic 1980's lingo, I replied, "Gross me out! This has NEVER been in style, Mom!"

I thought I had seen the last of that hideous black vest with the black-and-tan-checked lining. You can imagine my shock when I opened my first Christmas present of the morning and discovered the black vest neatly folded in the tissue paper. AARGH! We all had a hearty laugh and I quietly tucked the vest away.

Every year the black vest makes an appearance under the Christmas tree. We never know who might open it, but we DO know who has had it. Our tradition is to mark it before passing it to the next victim. Sometimes we add a button, sometimes a pin, simetimes an applique, but always the name and date of the last recipient. We now have a rich history on that black vest. That ugly vest is a beautiful tradition.

Christmas traditions week...

This week we begin sharing our Christmas traditions. Can you believe that Christmas Day is just a little over a week away? How exciting! We are busy making plans for the present-opening and big-meal-eating day when we celebrate Jesus' birth. But let me tell you something, girl to girl. My sweet husband gave me a HUGE word of encouragement. He looked at me yesterday on the way home from church and said, "You know what? This has been the best Christmas I can remember. I really like that we're celebrating a little bit everyday and not just making everything ride on December 25th." Yay!!! God is so good!!!

Doing this blog has been a challenge at times, especially in my personal time management. And then there's the issue of being sincere. I've always heard the expression, "If it don't work at home, don't export it," so my husband's words were like a great big hug from heaven. We struggle y'all. Just like everybody else. So even though the seven-year-old climbs across the back of the sofa and thumps the dog on the head during devotionals, it's good to know that God is still working in spite of our mess.

The other HUGE blessing is hearing from YOU! It seems from the comments posted that everyone loves to hear others share what Jesus has done (and is doing) in their homes and lives. I wanted to take a quick moment and share with you a few more pictures from our Friends who are celebrating Christmas along with us. Here are a few from Karen:

... Advent wreath...

... Jesse tree...

...countdown chain...
Karen has young children who participate in Advent celebrations by tearing off a link in the day each day until Christmas Day. It gives even the small ones a way to "see" how close we're getting to the birthday party.

... fur wreath...
No, you didn't miss a post. We didn't actually talk about it on this blog, but Karen found the directions on another blog and made this really cool wreath. If you find directions for cool decorations or homemade gifts, let us know. We'd love to post the link! Or if you have a tutorial you'd like to share, please send it in.

We have many wonderful traditions to share with you in the coming days, but there is still room if you want to send in YOUR family tradition. We'll be posting more frequently in the coming days in order to share all the neat ideas. Jump in and join us!

Check back early Monday afternoon for our kick-off post on traditions.

Jesus is Love ...

"For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved
through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed
in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the judgment:
the light has come into the world,
and people loved the darkness rather than the light
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things
hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his works should be exposed.
But whoever does what is true comes to the light,
so that it may be clearly seen
that his works have been carried out in God."
John 3:16-20


...God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8


For I am sure that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

Magnify...

Gabriel visits Mary with the news that Jesus is on His way. Mary goes to see her cousin Elizabeth, who confirms Gabriel's message as she's experiencing a miraculous pregnancy of her own. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth blesses Mary, "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Luke 1:45).

Mary responds with the famous song of praise known as "The Magnificat." And in the first line of her song, Mary reveals the secret of celebrating Christmas. She says, "My soul magnifies the Lord..."(Luke 1:46). What a simple, amazing idea. Magnify the Lord.

Now, I am the teacher-type. I have to know what the words mean. So I looked up the word magnify and discovered that it means the same thing in this verse that it does when you're talking about a magnifying glass or telescope or microscope. To place in the center; to bring into focus; to see the subject as bigger that objects surrounding it.

We are halfway through Advent. Christmas events seem to be taking center stage -- parties and concerts and plays. Shopping and gift wrapping become the focus of our "spare" time. Cooking and cleaning consume our domestic moments. Just being where we think we need to be, doing what we think we need to do takes on a life of its own, growing bigger and bigger as we rush towards December 25th.

When we magnify the spectacle of the holiday, it becomes the center of our focus. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Ultimately, the events of Christmas grow larger in our lives than the Christ of Christmas. We are rushed and panicked and exhausted, when, as Jesus told another sweet-but-harried woman, only one thing is needed.

So let's take a break. Halftime. Let's make sure that Jesus is still in the center of our lives, in focus and bigger than all else. Let's choose to magnify the Lord this Christmas season.

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One of the ways you can keep Jesus as the focus of the Christmas season is by placing reminders throughout your home that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Savior. A Friend of Celebrating Christmas has a collection of nativity scenes, but instead of displaying them together, she places them throughout her home as reminders to magnify Jesus moment by moment, day by day. Here are a few pictures of some of the nativity decorations in her collection...

Nativity sets make excellent Christmas gifts. They are visual reminders to magnifyJesus during these holy days.

And after December 25th, there are some wonderful sales on these meaningful decorations, so if you have already finished shopping for this year, you can begin to plan for next year and exercise good stewardship of your resources by catching them on sale in the coming weeks.

... in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name... by Jenn

You can tune your radio to a Christian station any day of the year and hear Christians singing to and about God. But for a few weeks each year we can hear something really spectacular -- secular artists singing praises to their Maker.

O holy night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night
Of our dear Savior's birth...

Why is this so neat? I believe their voices on these Christmas songs prove that each and every one of us was made to worship God.

Long lay the world
In sin and error pining
'Til He appeared
And the soul felt its worth...

You can find many artists singing traditional songs written to celebrate the birth of Christ, and some of the most beautiful, most moving versions are by men and women who have never publicly claimed to know or follow Jesus.

A thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices!
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn!

One wonders how you could sing the words of these songs and not be moved by them. Maybe we've heard them too many times. But these songs are the Gospel in musical form. I believe they must penetrate the heart on some level.

Truly He taught us
To love one another
His law is love
His gospel is peace...

There is one song in particular, a medley of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "We Three Kings" that especially stirs my heart. The song is sung by BNL (for short) and Sarah McLachlan, musical artists who are not in any way known for loving Jesus. But you know when you hear Sarah sing the words, "Glorious now, behold Him arise/ King and God and sacrifice/ Alleluia, Alleluia..." that her voice has never sounded more beautiful.

Chains shall he break
For the slave is our brother
And in His name
All oppression shall cease...

We were made to worship Him.

Sweet hymns of joy
In grateful chorus raise we
Let every heart
Adore His holy name...

Only Him.

Christ is the Lord!
Oh praise His name forever!
His power and glory
Evermore proclaim!

Kinda makes you want to fall on your knees, doesn't it?