Talking Christmas Traditions with Exemplify

As promised, I am participating in Christmas Traditions on Exemplify’s Family Channel. Thanks to Andrea who is our host. She also hosts Caffeinated Randomness on her blog (yes ladies, it is back on!) Under Grace and Over Coffee. She is funny, Canadian and has the cutest little dog. Enough said, thanks to Andrea.

It seems as though this holiday season is going to be one big holiday. Who can argue with that? It starts with giving thanks and ends with the best birthday, ever! I can honestly say that my husband and I are not fully formed when it comes to family tradition, though. It seems that each year brings a new circumstance, and new geography.

More than not, we get Thanksgiving alone together. This has made it into something unique. This year hubby made breakfast, and because of this it is my favorite breakfast. We sat down and read scripture after breakfast and prayed thanksgivings.

Ever prayer, every word all comes back to the same thing when you give thanks. The only reason that I have to be thankful is my death and new life in Christ. I don’t deserve it, and that is why I am thankful. Every gift and blessing comes from Him, alone. Can I get a witness?

So, we started the day with that on our lips.

AND, while I am on it…how wonderful to sit over breakfast with the man who God declares as mine! And, pray? Be still my heart. There is nothing more handsome than that.

Then, I cooked a special but non-Thanksgiving sort of meal. Mind you, Thanksgiving is tomorrow for us. My in-laws are officially coming in, so we delayed it. You guessed it, your week last week is my week this week.

Last night, I made the bread and cornbread for the dressings which I will make today. I also made the pie crusts, and did the obligatory jello salad. After I started making my own cranberry sauce last year, I could not get enough. I love to watch them pop out of their little skins…perhaps, an analogy for Thanksgiving dinner. So, I did that last night, also. Oh, and the turkey is brining its little heart out.

Today I do pies, dressing (I am a firm believer that it is better the second day), a casserole and the turkey stock…and clean…and finish decorating…and…and…peace, Lord!

A tradition that I will incorporate into our meal, tomorrow, is the Thanksgiving list. It is a list of no less than five things this year that one is thankful for. It is to be shared over dessert, because you don’t need as many hands for that course. We did this growing up a few times and the answers are fun and surprising.

Back to last week. After cooking, the Christmas tree went up. This is a tradition from my childhood. I don’t know why, but it gives a family activity, and slight movement post-gorge. AND, this is where our Christmas traditions begin.

And ends.

We spend the holidays with so much family that we have not had a chance to form our own traditions. I can tell you some of the things that I grew up with, but this exercise has made me think hard on this. It is time we took Christmas over. I will get back to you on this.

I used to love going to church on Christmas Eve and then coming home to unwrap the presents. We did gifts on the Eve and stockings on Christmas morning. Before we unwrapped the gifts, we read the story of the birth of Christ. I have a video of this from an awkward teenage year. I am wearing a hat, inside (much like Debbie Gibson I am sure). I had leggings tucked into my socks, and of course, a pair of Keds. Oh, why do we put things on tape?

One day I will post a picture of my old hair (It was big, Texas style). I show the pictures to my high school girls discipleship group as an ice breaker every year. They actually showed up at my house once after they had spent hours trying to imitate it. It was hysterical.

The next tradition is the holiday meal. It happened at 2ish on Christmas. Most of the time we just felt like rolling out of our chairs and napping on the floor after dinner; but, somehow, we usually made it to a couch or bed. I think of my mother…working in the kitchen all of those years. Sorry, mom. I understand that today and tomorrow I will understand it even more.

It’s worth it, though? Don’t you think?

Christmas pics are coming soon!