A Family Heritage

The holiday season can be fun, excited, stressful, and exhausting.

Christmas is a simple celebration of an extraordinary event, the birth of our Savior. Although reflecting on that event can give us feelings of wonder, excitement and thankfulness, remember that it’s not really a time of thanksgiving or even a time to focus on ‘giving’. Those ideas can get us wrapped up in this man-made holiday {where the exhaustion and stress comes from} as opposed to standing in awe of an event that changed the world forever! Thankfulness and generosity should be a what oozes out of us because of Christ birth, not a requirement for the season.

I want to give you permission to find ways to level out some of those highs and lows.

Make your own traditions to celebrate Christ’s coming and what He’s done for you. I know we can get consumed by those who have come before us and the memorable traditions they’ve created in their homes, but traditions are just that…traditions. Traditions are the notion of holding on to a previous time. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose over short periods of time. Tradition literally means to transmit or to hand over. Keep all this in mind when you are stressing because you are finding it impossible to make your families traditional meal, have the traditional decorations, or accomplish the traditional setting and atmosphere. There are many fun traditions that just make it feel like Christmas but traditions are not mandates, commands, or edicts. Christmas {or the birth of Christ} has already happened, so Christmas will comeome no matter what kind of setting/atmosphere we do or don’t create.

Some times we are missing the fun and excitement of celebration because we are treating traditions as rules we must adhere to. There are two main traditions I have heard my friends feting about over the past few years and I am here to give some relief: Christ came to free us from bondage, even if that means not being slave to old traditions OR the feeling of having to make new traditions.

There is no rule that says you can’t have Santa or the Elf on the Shelf during Christmas time. There’s no rule that says you have to. The Bible talks about having no gods before the one true God. If Santa and elves were a big tradition that you enjoyed during your childhood, go for it! Just keep Christ the center. If you feel like it’s hard to focus on Christ birth because of those things, then by all means, chop it out of your family’s tradition. I wouldn’t go around announcing to all the neighborhood kids or cousins that Santa died a long while back but don’t let family or friends try and make these decisions for you. Christmas is not about creativity or the lack there of. It’s about the birth of Christ.

There is no rule that says you have to travel or stay home for the entire season or Christmas day. Many families choose to gather in huge droves of people, families from all sides for the week leading up to Christmas. Others gather the day of. Some families live too far apart or simply choose to stay in the comfort of their own home with just their immediate family. Some travel all Christmas day hitting up every corner of the family. Whatever  works for you family best, in this season of life, should become your tradition, don’t be guilted other-wise. Christmas is not about family. It’s about the birth of Christ.

:There are so many other traditions and to be clear, there are no rules about how Christmas is to be done:  about what kind of tree(s) {if any at all}, turkey or ham {or PB&J}, inside/outside lights/decor, dress code, stockings, Christmas cards, all the way down to if you giving or receiving gifts.

All traditions need to be thought through with conviction while being purposeful in caring them out. Make sure you {along with your spouse if applicable} know how and why you have these convictions and then stick to your guns with purpose! This is your home, your family, your traditions. Growing up, I’m sure you were all like me. I thought every family did things exactly the way my family did things. Thought the same. Interacted with one another the same. Had the same traditions. Be encouraged! Your children will not know any different. They will have no idea if you decide to do things things are different, weird, non-traditional. It will be their traditions. Your family’s heritage. Pass down an inheritance of motives more than actions for the next generation.

I challenge you to focus on your family’s heritage more than it’s traditions this year?
What will you be ‘passing down’ to the next generation within your family?

Need some inspiration for the holidays? Poke around here or even on any of our Pinterest boards to find our where the contributors of the Homemaker’s Challenge are finding inspiration for Celebrating the birth of Christ with our families!