New Family Seeks Help With Christmas Traditions

By Heidi Rogers, Graphic Designer

Many of us grew up with traditions that our families performed religiously every holiday season. Perhaps your traditions revolved around church and the story of Jesus’ birth, or around the idea of Santa, and at least somewhat around family gatherings and food. Every year my mom would get my brother and I a new, personal ornament for the tree. And on Christmas morning, she’d arrange cinnamon rolls in the shape of a tree and bake them with maraschino cherries on top, to look like ornaments. It was these little things, among others, that I really looked forward to doing together as a family every December.

This year, my husband and I find ourselves spending a quiet Christmas without our extended family here in Utah, with our nine-month-old son. Having a child has caused us to think differently about a lot of things, including how our actions and choices affect the type of person he will become. It has renewed a desire in us to live for Jesus, because we don’t just want to set a good example, we want to emanate what it means to love God and others with all of our hearts.

So as I strive to follow the Holy Spirit more and more each day, in conjunction with the excitement I feel over creating our own, new, family Christmas traditions, I ponder how I can connect the two. What kind of fun memories can I create for my son? How can we enjoy some of our American cultural traditions at Christmas, while still focusing on the birth of Christ? How do we intentionally show him love through gifts, and at the same time maintain the spirit of giving and selflessness? How does God want our family to spend our time and energy during the holidays?

One day, as I was perusing some of my favorite blogs, I came across some how-to’s on Jesse Trees. A Jesse Tree is similar in concept to an advent calendar, but way cooler. You start with a tree of some sort, and each day leading up to Christmas you read a devotional as a family – a passage (through the Old Testament and into the New) that points to the coming of Christ. With each day’s devotional, you have an ornament that represents the story that you hang on the tree. I love this idea because I can make it myself, utilizing some of those crafty/artsy skills God gave me. And it builds anticipation for Christmas and teaches us stories from the Bible all at the same time!

Another thing I’ve been challenged to think about is how we handle gift-giving. I think as we become more connected via the Internet and more aware of suffering going on in the world and in our own neighborhoods, people are thinking more about how they spend their money. I know several people who have decided to forego giving gifts within their family, and instead give a gift as a family to someone in need. Other people I know are very specific about how much and what type of gifts they give their kids at Christmas. For example, giving one practical gift (new pajamas), one educational gift (a book), and one fun toy.

If you’re familiar with The Five Love Languages, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say my main love language is gifts. It means a lot to me when someone goes out of their way to think of something I’d like, no matter how small. So I don’t think cutting gift-giving altogether at Christmas for our family is the right answer. Not just for my sake, but in the event that my son also feels loved through thoughtful gifts. While we have yet to decide our approach to Christmas gift-giving, we know we want to be intentional and thoughtful about it.

So I’m still dwelling and pondering and praying, counting on the Lord’s guidance through this adventure called “parenting,” particularly through the holidays.
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions? Is there anything your family does to tie in the reason for our celebration? How do you handle Christmas gifts? Help Heidi out and leave a comment with some ideas!