Traditions Start Now

Traditions come in so many different shapes and sizes. I’ve learned quickly as I’ve started creating my own traditions with my little family that some are harder to keep going than others, and some are so important that the effort is more present.

Growing up, my family had a handful of traditions that I was able to count on. Some were monthly, and continue to this day like a little saying between me and my dad-- "Pinch and a punch for the first of the month.” “Pinch and a kick for being so quick.” These days, whoever remembers first, sends a text, but as simple as it is, it’s something that makes me smile and start the month off on a good foot.

Others, were the ones that came with the holidays. Every thanksgiving, like most families, we say what we are thankful for. But in our family, we have to keep my brother from going first because he’ll make it last for-ev-er and do so with so much humor that we are all clutching our sides from laughter and not just from too much turkey. At Christmas, we always decorate a tree, set up that nativity scene, and fight over who puts the star on.

Some of these traditions have found their way into my own little family’s holiday season. Every year, just before Thanksgiving, because we don’t celebrate at home, we set up our tree and put out our Christmas decorations--and I’m sure when my girls are older, they’ll fight over who gets to put the star on.

When I had my first Christmas in my house, I realized how much I missed the nativity set as part of my Christmas decor. When I started looking for one and saw just how expensive they are, I couldn’t justify the purchase at that price at that time, so I created a scene with the help of Pinterest, the bottom of our first Christmas tree, and a Sharpie. And right after Christmas, I went to Target and found a cute and small set on clearance.

I think the nativity was so important to me because I find the whole tradition of Christmas so important to my faith. God was willing to send his only son in human form to earth in the most vulnerable way--as a baby. Jesus had the full human experience before he chose to die on that cross to save me and you from our sins. Christmas is the start of the story of salvation.

So when we decided to jump on the Elf on the Shelf bandwagon when my oldest was one, I knew that I couldn’t let our Elf focus on the commercial idea of Christmas. So we named her Faith and her job for the last three years has been to help me teach my kids all about Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas.

This year, Faith has been bringing little cards that tell the story of Christmas in little bits and pieces each day. My three-year-old has started gathering little toys like her LOL dolls, her Moana character figurines, and other random small toys to act as part of the nativity scene as we read out the story. She’s really excited to find out the next part of the story. And she grabs her children’s Bible out to show the pictures of the story too.

So I decided to add to my nativity collection and found a children’s version online that she can use to stand in as all the people in the story as we read it. I want this to be so real for her, like it is for me. I want her to see that the beginning of her salvation, something I know she won’t understand for a while, begins here, at Christmas.

While we enjoy the Christmas movies (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Home Alone for my husband, A Christmas Story and all the Hallmark Christmas Movies for me, The Grinch and The Santa ClausE for my three year old), the lights and ornaments, the presents (only three, because three was good enough for Jesus so it’s good enough for us), the cookies and candy canes, the gingerbread houses and hot chocolate in our special Christmas mugs, the real reason we celebrate is to say:

Happy Birthday Jesus!

She may be just three, but this is where those traditions start for her. So this is where I start the traditions. Now.