Christmas Traditions and Family
So it’s been a few days since I have written anything new on here. But then again, the last few days have been pretty occupied with that little thing people celebrate around this time of year… yeah, Christmas!
It’s been a beautiful Christmas break. My whole family came home to Franklin for Christmas break — yes, all eleven of us, not to mention Nick and Libby… the future additions to our family. It was awesome. There is nothing quite like sitting down to a solid oak table that is over a hundred years old with a dozen people that you love more than anyone else in the world (not to mention the turkey, the potatoes, the corn pudding, the green bean casserole, the sweet potatoes, and all the other good Christmas foods that accompanied us).
After Christmas dinner, we all sat down in the living room. There aren’t nearly enough chairs or sofas scattered around to house all of us… so we found whatever we could find - a small piece of carpet by the fireplace or a pillow leaned up against the foot of the sofa. As a family, there are a few traditions that we do on Christmas day. After dinner and before we open up our stockings or our presents, my mom pulls a bundle of envelopes off the Christmas tree. It’s tied with a red ribbon, and there are eleven envelopes… each has a different name on it. My mom hands the envelopes out to each of us… an envelope that we only see or open once a year - Christmas. Inside each one is a sheet of paper that each of us had written on in previous Christmas’s. As a tradition, we take a few minutes to write down something that we want to give to God… a bad habit, a worry, our time, a friend, or a desire we have to change for Christ. This year I wrote that I wanted to give God my trust and my faith in Him…
I have come to realize over the last few weeks that God’s sovereignty and control in all situations is something that I always encourage people to believe in and trust in… but I came to realize that I have never really put that to the test. I have never fully had to trust God or have faith in Him. So often I have believed the lie that I could do it on my own, or that I didn’t need Him. God has been teaching me otherwise… so my prayer and my gift to God this Christmas was that I would give God the trust and faith that He desires and deserves. I want to know what it means to fully trust and have faith in God’s sovereignty. God grant me that this year…
So that is one of our Christmas traditions… after writing something down on our sheet of paper, we share with each other what we have written and we spend some time praying. Then comes the time to open up our stockings and presents. Which brings to mind another tradition that we have carried on for the last several years…
We used to always hang up red Christmas stockings that each had our name written on it… we couldn’t hang them above the fireplace for the simple reason that there were always too many of us. So we would always hang them along the banister of our stairway. Well, several years ago we came back to America for our furlough from the mission field. We were living in England at the time, but we came back for several months over Christmas. Well, we didn’t have our stockings with us… so my dad came up with another idea. As my dad nailed eleven nails around the living room banister, we each brought out a pair of blue jeans. Yes… you heard me right - blue jeans. We tied up the ends of each pant leg and then hung them up! We all thought it was kind of a stupid idea at first… but my dad didn’t fail to convince us of the fact that blue jeans could hold a LOT more presents than stockings. And for the time being, we were convinced and satisfied. Since then, we have always hung up a pair of our old blue jeans down the banister of our staircase. Good times…. that’s all I can say… good times. :)
So yes, after opening up our stockings and our presents… we spent the rest of the day sitting, talking, drinking tea, eating home-made chocolate pecan pie, and remembering the promises that God brought to us through His Son some 2006 years ago.
Published on 28 Dec 2006 at 10:28 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under A Day in the Life.
i like your familiy and their traditions and i have yet to meet them. im glad that god has been working in your heart to have the desire to fully trust in him. what a beautiful thing it is when he begins to work within us to mold and shape us into who he is and who he desires us to be…
Olivia on 29 Dec 2006 at 1:25 am.
yep. but i guess in a way it’s also a dangerous prayer… once we ask God to make us fully trust in him, it might mean that he will take away a lot of things we’ve been depending on instead. Take Job, for example. But however dangerous a prayer, we know we can always be safe in the arms of the evrlasting Father, the one who will never bend a reed so far that it will break.
Amy Mulholland on 29 Dec 2006 at 12:13 pm.
Hi, I came across your blog and I really enjoyed it. I like how you make reference to fully trusting God. I’ve noticed I sometimes try to do tasks by myself or think that I can handle it with out God. Now I am also working on putting all my trust in God, because like you I’ve never really had to rely just on God. I also like your family traditions. God Bless! ~Julie
Julie Swann on 30 Dec 2006 at 11:01 pm.
thanks Julie!
I’ve come to realize that a lot myself lately… trust in God is the only way. :)
And yes, my family is pretty cool!
Philip Codington on 31 Dec 2006 at 11:27 am.
Hello Philip,
My name is Kathleen I’ve been praying about attending Covenant for a number of years now and I was greatly encouraged by your enjoyment of your first semester. I assume your blog is on the website to do just that and I was hopeing if it isn’t too much trouble if I could get you to send me an email with some details about student life. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Christmas break. Thanks so much.
Your sister in Christ,
Kathleen Smith
Kathleen Smith on 1 Jan 2007 at 11:17 pm.
Nice Post.
That was well said. Always appreciate your indepth views. Keep up the great work!
John
JohnPearson on 25 Jan 2007 at 1:11 am.