Our Favorite Holiday Traditions, Continued

Point to Ponder:
What are you looking forward to most this Christmas?

by Neissa Brown Springmann

It recently occurred to me that I am responsible for creating my children’s holiday memories and traditions… which freaks me out! I am trying really hard to not make Christmas all about Santa, receiving gifts, etc, but I have found myself using Santa an an incentive to “be good and kind, listen to Mommy and Daddy and eat all of your food.” UGH! In moments of desperation, it’s nearly impossible to not. And while I haven’t mustered up the courage to go to the mall so Durant and Malaine can see Santa (and Malaine can scream her head off), or take them to the Trail of Lights (EEK!), it dawned on me that I can’t forget to leave milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. It’s all part of the magic of Christmas, right?…and it’s all up to me to not forget anything!!

However, after re-reading all of the beautiful and various traditions from our Leaders in last week’s journal, it occurred to me that everyone’s favorite traditions (including my own) are about how we spend time together, and nothing else. My holiday goal is to stay sane and joyful, so quality time will be my primary focus. I can definitely make that happen and will stay off of Pinterest and Facebook to avoid seeing all of the elaborate and creative things other moms are doing for their homes and children. Comparison is the thief of joy, right?! Yes!

For a few more of our favorite holiday traditions, leaders Sha and Jill share their favorites, which also happen to be time-focused. Here’s to quality time together, the most important tradition of them all!

“We love our very busy Christmas Eve tradition. Every Christmas Eve we travel to Waco for the Klatt family reunion. Sometimes it seems like a lot of effort, but once we get the 5 of us in the car, we love our together time. We leave early in the morning and always stop at Monument Cafe in Georgetown for a fun breakfast. Once we get to Ganny’s house (Mike’s mom), we each stuff something in the 10 stockings hanging by the fire, then we commence “opening” them. After the larger family reunion lunch, we head back to Austin for a wonderful, festive, delicious dinner/party at a neighbor’s house. At 10:30pm we head to Good Shepherd for the beautiful Christmas Eve candlelight service, where a lovely small orchestra leads us in gorgeous Christmas hymns. It is a long, full day, but we fall into bed after midnight filled with the love of family, friends, and Faith that this season brings.” -Sha

“One of our family traditions that we started when my girls were babies is before opening one gift on Christmas Eve, we gather around the Christmas tree to read “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Avery, my oldest daughter, received the book as a gift from grandparents her first Christmas, and it’s the same version we read together every year. It’s that special something that brings us all together for just a moment. We always do it right before bedtime. It is a tradition that they still enjoy very much, and will hopefully continue with their children one day.”
-Jill

Action Item:
Amid the holiday chaos, make a conscious effort to briefly stop and simply observe and enjoy quality together time with loved ones.