I was blessed last night by a ladies' outreach event at our church featuring beautiful decorations, music, and most importantly a beautiful message. The speaker was Noel Piper, a woman who has influenced me though we've never met. We used to attend her husband's church (John Piper) in Minneapolis, and because of this I was introduced to her book, Treasuring God in our Traditions. It's honestly a book you could read over and over as she talks about the importance of tradition in different seasons. I set my copy out last night so I could reread the Christmas chapter. I haven't done so yet, and I honestly haven't looked at the book in about three years, but seeing her did remind me of the importance of traditions and recording those of our family.
I should also add a quick disclaimer that I have not mastered this. This is by no means a post stating the way things should be done. It's simply a way for me to remember and remain accountable to myself.
One fun tradition we do, as do most Americans, is a Christmas tree. We have happy memories from the Twin Cities of cutting down our own tree at a tree farm or choosing a tree from a local nursery where Matt's aunt worked. However, we have not made the efforts to do this in Sioux Falls. I think tree farms are around, but expensive and not hugely popular. So, since moving our trees have come from Lewis, Menards, and now Costco. Not super fun. However, what we do is Matt goes out and picks the tree by himself. We try to make it a surprise. This year the kids were all upstairs and he came in singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" while carrying in the tree. The kids ran down the steps and were super excited to see him with the tree. It admittedly wasn't a huge surprise this year (I set up the tree stand before he got home), but there was still squealing and laughter nonetheless.
We typically set it up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year we were too busy (or maybe just too tired) to make it work. Since we are also busy every weekend in December, ('tis the season), Matt brought the tree home on a Tuesday night after a church meeting. The kids and I decorated it Wednesday after school.
It's always fun to dig out old ornaments. I do love fancy trees with a theme or uniform color. However we have so many meaningful ornaments from Matt and I's childhood (and some from adulthood). We even have a few ornaments of Matt's grandma's. So our tree is more of a mix of nostalgia with red and silver balls.
I'm glad that all the kids still get excited about decorating the tree each year. It's not a big thing, but I'm sure Nathan will be "too cool" too soon. This year however he made sure we waited until he got home from school.
This photo is the closest I've come to taking a selfie...though not intentionally.
Looking back at the photos our tree looks a little like it was decorated by children...but it was!
I'm also not good at taking photos in the dark. I was trying to get the glow of the tree, but it's a little grainy.
So far the tree has just been a fun tradition. I know of people who make even this a Christ-centered event. I love the idea of putting names of God on ball ornaments and talking about them as you put them on the tree. I haven't done any as such yet though.
What have however made efforts to make sure this season is focused on Christ. We talk a lot of Advent, what it meant before Christ was born and what it means now.
The word advent derives from the Latin word for coming. Before Christ humbled Himself and came to this earth as a Babe, people were waiting for their Savior to come. They were in a season of advent if you will. We are still in a season of advent...we are still waiting. Christ has promised to come back. Not as a helpless baby this time but as a mighty King. We discuss each day how the people counted down the days (years) for Christ to come the first time, and we are still doing the same.
A simple way we've done is through this Advent countdown. There are 25 envelopes, one for each day of December until Christmas. Each one has a Bible verse, starting with Messianic prophesy and continuing through the birth of Christ.
There are so many great Advent ideas out there, this one works for us for now. The kids would probably improve it with some sort of chocolate. I could change it out with bigger envelopes or burlap bags if wanted. My friend has a great one with stockings her mom made (I think). My complaint is that those little clothes pins break if you look at them funny. This is our third year with the envelopes, and I need to run to Hobby Lobby because we've used all our extra pins.
We also have Advent candles on our dining table to celebrate and focus this season on Christ.
There are four white candles for each week of Advent as well as a glittery-gold candle in the middle for Christmas (or whatever day our family celebrates Christmas).
This year I failed to locate my wreath hanger, so the wreath got put on centerpiece duty instead. Each night we light the appropriate number of candles. We use this to build up to Christmas. We discuss the Light of the World, and the Light that shines, and overcomes, the darkness. We also get a month of candle lit dinners.
Finally, one very simple activity to remind our children of the reason for Christmas is our Fischer Price Little People Nativity set. We've had it since Ella's first Christmas, and I love it. The kids love to play with the figures, sometimes in Christmas appropriate ways and sometimes not! Evelyn didn't remember it, and it's most suited for her age, so she has enjoyed it the most this year. However it has to be put away under the tree, and is put in storage eleven months of the year, so it's still kind of special to even Nathan.
Granted no one at the First Christmas had pale skin or chubby cheeks. :) I also decided to not set it up, but just take the photo "as is". It looks like there was a tornado outside, but all is well in the manger.
We also try to incorporate several traditions for giving and serving at Christmas...but that's for another post to come!
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