I can clearly remember the Christmas morning when I was six years old. Christmas was always an exciting time in our home. My mother would bake cookies and desserts to share with family and friends. The house would be trimmed in festive decorations of red, green, and gold. There was a silver aluminum tree decorated with our baubles and bells.

Yes. A silver, aluminum tree very nearly like the ones depicted in A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was the mid-sixties after all.

None of that mattered, however, because on Christmas morning the aluminum tree had been “transformed” to a live, evergreen tree brought and decorated by Santa Claus ... a tradition in our family from my mother and her Norwegian heritage. We would go to church on Sundays and there was always a reminder that Christmas was about something more, but as a child my attention was definitely focused on a more secular celebration.

As an adult once I had my own small children, I wanted to keep all of the traditions of my family ... the tree, decorations, and stockings which Santa Claus would fill ... but somehow put more emphasis on the birth of Christ. I wanted my children to understand while the secular traditions can be beautiful and fun, there is so much more to celebrate throughout the Christmas season.

So everything my husband and I did with our children ... from lighting an advent wreath, reading devotions the 24 days before Christmas and the scripture from Matthew on Christmas Eve, Christ was the emphasis of our celebration. Even buying a toy manger scene for the children to use and enjoy was for this purpose. Everything we did for Christmas was designed to remind us all of the reason we celebrate the holiday, beyond parties, presents, and pretty lights.

I'll never forget the time my oldest daughter, who was four at the time, was struggling down the stairs from her room with every Barbie doll she owned and all of their accessories.

"What are you doing?" I asked her while picking up a tiny dress which had fallen from one of the boxes she had stacked in her small arms.

"We're going to Bethlehem to honor the baby Jesus!"

Mission accomplished.

I personally believe traditions hold an important place in family. Traditions help us hold important times and memories. My children are now mostly grown. Young women moving on to build their own lives and eventually families. My prayer is they too will to continue the Christmas traditions our family established ... and always honor Jesus every day of their lives.

Copyright © by Kristine McGuire Share