What does sparklers and knit slippers have in common? What similarities do Leeds, Alabama and Thomasville, GA share? They each are a part of my childhood Christmas traditions.
Because of geographical situations, our family would usually alternate Christmas family visits. Mom's family gathered in Alabama, dad's in Georgia. It seemed like every time we were in Alabama, there were sparklers and other fireworks involved. Every trip to Grandmama Faison's yielded a pair of knit slippers.
Doesn't sound like much, but those memories are priceless to me today. All my grandparents, two aunts, an uncle, a cousin, and my dad have all died. Maybe because every year seemed to be in a different place, there weren't annual traditions much in our family for Christmas. I do remember, though, that our get-togethers began to change as time went on.
The grandkids grew up and got married. As we began to have families of our own, it was less likely to get together with our extended families. It was much more hectic because we were scattered more than ever before.
When I married, my wife brought a completely different set of memories and traditions to the table. For example, in our family, stockings at Christmas was little more than decoration. I was a bit dumbfounded at Christmas 1990 when we literally put STUFF in the Christmas stockings!
But now that my own children are growing up, our traditions are about to change even more. It's harder to put activities together with our extended families.
Traditions change. They have to for logistic's sake. The beautiful thing about Christmas is the message of Christmas NEVER changes! Christmas is STILL about the Savior being born of a virgin, coming to forgive our sin.
I hope you've trusted Him and accepted His gift to you.
