I love traditions during the holidays. It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas, Easter, or any other holiday or celebration, it seems like everyone has their own traditions. I know growing up we had a lot of traditions. Some that I have kept as an adult, some I haven’t. One of my favorite things is giving my girls Christmas pajamas that they get to open on Christmas Eve. After opening their jammies and getting them on, in my house we open one more gift filled with goodies and snacks to munch on while we watch a Christmas movie. Finally, after watching our movie, we read the Christmas story from my girls’ picture Bible and talk about the meaning of the holiday, set out cookies and milk, and head to bed.

So many Christians get a little crazy this time of year when it comes to the secular versus the “Christian”. I have heard radio broadcasts and podcast about how we need to not participate in the tradition of Santa or various other things because they take the focus off of the true meaning of Christmas. I would like to politely disagree. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t by any means believe that we should become commercial and focus only on greed and gifts, however, I do think that we can see Christ even in the secular.  The most interesting thing about so many of our so-called secular traditions is that they actually have roots in Christianity. Everything from Christmas trees to candy canes to Santa Claus himself have their beginnings either in a Christian tradition or because of the acts of Christians doing their best to serve God in the way they were called.

I think that during this time of the year, as a mother, my favorite thing is the combination of seeing the joy on my kids’ faces as we participate in the different traditions, and the joy of giving them gifts. I really didn’t understand as a kid how fun it is to give gifts to others. The older I get the more I understand Matthew 7:9-11 (NLT) where it says, “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

This got me to thinking about how often I have not been grateful for the gifts in my life.  How many times in our lives have we received a blessing, maybe a new job we had prayed for, healthy children, or simply a roof over our head and food in our belly, and not given thanks for it?  I know, for me at least, it has been far more often than I care to admit.  I sometimes get my feelings hurt when others are ungrateful, how must it grieve God every single day when we don’t even acknowledge the things He has done for us? We are told “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT).

    God is a wonderful gift giver, although, unlike us as parents sometimes, he gives us exactly what we need and not always what we want.  He is patient with us when we unwrap the gift to simply utter an insincere “thanks”.  He knows how even though it may not look like it, the lost job, missed promotion, or unfulfilled dream, are simply stepping stones to get us to where we are called to be. I hope that this Christmas you will keep your eyes on Christ in the middle of any tradition you may be celebrating. Also remember to always be thankful, no matter what your circumstances may be this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!