New Christmas Traditions

I recently posted about some of my favorite Christmas memories. Now that Christmas is over, I want to remember the new traditions we started that made this Christmas so worshipful. Each activity was selected specifically for its role in pointing our family to Christ:

- Each Sunday night, we celebrated advent by lighting the advent wreath and reading a passage a a family. This time was even more special because each week we invited other families to celebrate and worship (and eat!) with us.

- We worked on an advent inductive Bible study. Each day, I would do the study on my own, then I would read the passages aloud and color the pictures with Sam. Steve kept tabs on the main points of each week's lessons so he could "quiz" Sam in the evenings (Sam loved the repetition of answering questions about the stories over and over again).

- Each evening we opened a cubbyhole door in our advent calendar, finding a scripture passage and lesson-related toy. The mini-lessons were a bit beyond Sam's comprehension (a new, abstract concept every day without much opportunity for reinforcement), but he sure liked getting a new toy every night!

- As a family, we put Christmas lights on the house to remember that Jesus is the light of the world (who am I kidding? Steve tackled it while I held a newborn and monitored an excited toddler "helping" Daddy).

- We decorated a Christmas tree with an angel on top to remind us of the messages the angels brought to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds.

- We made and delivered gifts of cookies to our neighbors to remember that Jesus is the gift of Christmas and we are to deliver the good news.

- On Christmas day, after opening gifts, we made visits at our neighboring assisted living facility. It helped us remember to focus on being a servant, as Jesus was, rather than on receiving gifts and toys. I am hoping to make those visits a regular activity for Sam, Ruth, and me.

There are several additional ideas for young children I've heard from others which would be fun to incorporate in future years.

- Using the nativity set to illustrate different parts of the Christmas story, such as having Joseph and Mary get closer to the stable each day and hiding Jesus until Christmas morning

- Baking and decorating a birthday cake for Jesus

- Giving a "spiritual gift" (a special, modest gift celebrating a way God has gifted that child) to each child. (This year we didn't get the kids gifts because, well, Ruth could care less, and Sam was overwhelmed with so many awesome gifts from others!)

Any other ideas you'd like to share?

This year, there was one attempt at a tradition that was a big flop. In my family, we used to have a tradition of serving a fondue meal on New Year's Eve. This year we tried it on Christmas night, just the four of us. Nope, not worth it, and not gonna happen again, at least with infants and toddlers. So we'll just shelve that plan for another dozen or two years. Ha!