History Behind Christmas Traditions

A long time ago, I bought a journal from Land's End and it was entitled Christmas Memories. It was a red, hardback book that would capture 20 years of Christmas memories, from what you had a dinner, to the guests who stopped by.

Places for favorite Christmas photos and Christmas Cards (when people sent them). What you did on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as well as a place for Christmas gifts. I have written in that book for so many years. There are a couple of skips in the book before I really kept to being diligent. There are some sad memories when we lost special people who impacted our lives as well as trials that threatened to overwhelm us. I even had one year I completely skipped because I didn't want to celebrate Christmas because my ex made sure to have our divorce finalized on Christmas but because the courts were closed, he had to settle for the day after.

Yet God brings blessings where we don't often look for them and He restored what was lost more that double what I lost in my new husband who proudly stepped in and filled in all those broken places and restored my faith in enjoying Christmas once again. In fact that moment stands out more so than any other Christmas memory.

In this Christmas Memory book are also the history behind some of the traditions we incorporate into our home every year and I thought I would share some of them with you.

1. Candy Canes: They originated in Germany more than 250 years ago. They were simple plain white sugar sticks designed to keep children quiet during church service back in 1670 as the story goes and since they wanted them to be a reminder of Christmas, they were formed into the shape of a shepherd's crook to remind them of the birth of Jesus. Later as the flavors of peppermint and wintergreen were to the red stripes. Christian meanings behind the candy cane is the J-shape reminds us of Jesus, the white of the cane represents the purity of Christ and the red stripes for the blood that He shed on the cross.

2. Poinsettias. Originated in Central America, especially in the area of south Mexico where they bloom during the winter. There is a legend of how the Poinsettia and Christmas came together.

There was once a poor Mexican girl called Pepita who had no present to give the the baby Jesus at the Christmas Eve Services. As Pepita walked to the chapel, sadly, her cousin Pedro tried to cheer her up.

'Pepita', he said "I'm sure that even the smallest gift, given by someone who loves him will make Jesus Happy."

Pepita didn't know what she could give, so she picked a small handful of weeds from the roadside and made them into a a small bouquet. She felt embarrassed because she could only give this small present to Jesus. As she walked through the chapel to the altar, she remembered what Pedro had said. She began to feel better, knelt down and put the bouquet at the bottom of the nativity scene.
Suddenly, the bouquet of weeds burst into bright red flowers, and everyone who saw them were sure they had seen a miracle. From that day on, the bright red flowers were known as the 'Flores de Noche Buena', or 'Flowers of the Holy Night'.

The shape of the poinsettia flower and leaves are sometimes thought as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem which led the Wise Men to Jesus. The red colored leaves symbolize the blood of Christ. The white leaves represent his purity.

3. Advent. Advent is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas (or sometimes from the 1st December to Christmas Day!). Advent means 'Coming' in Latin. This is the coming of Jesus into the world. Christians use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas.

There are three meanings of 'coming' that Christians describe in Advent. The first, and most thought of, happened about 2000 years ago when Jesus came into the world as a baby to live as a man and die for us. The second can happen now as Jesus wants to come into our lives now. And the third will happen in the future when Jesus comes back to the world as King and Judge, not a baby.

Some people fast, or observe dietary restrictions like not eating meat or dairy during the countdown of those days. We most recently see these as Advent Calendars or a wreath that holds numbered bags to be opened each day as is a German tradition. People place small gifts or candy inside to make counting down the days even better and more exciting.

Other people celebrate the Advent with a candle that is burned down to each day marked on the calendar.

 
Some use what is called an Advent crown in which one candle is burned on the first Sunday, two the next Sunday and so on with each having a separate meaning.

First Candle - represents Isaiah and the other prophets who foretold of the coming Messiah.
Second Candle - represents the Bible.
Third Candle - represents Mary, the mother of Jesus
Fourth Candle - represents John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, who told people to be prepared and to look out for the coming Messiah.
Fifth Candle - usually placed in the middle of the other four represents Jesus Christ, the Messiah who is the Light of the World. This candle is lit on Christmas Eve!

4. Christmas Trees. Both pagans and Christians used the fir trees, for pagans to celebrate the end of winter solstice, but Christmas for a sign of the everlasting life of God. Since fir trees stay green all year long and don't lose their needles, they symbolize life and the hope that comes from trusting in God when winter seems like it's an end to all life. Some countries refer to it as the Paradise Tree and can mean to represent the tree God provided in the Garden of Eden to symbolize everlasting life.

The first first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been the 16th century German preacher Martin Luther. A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas.

5. Christmas Presents. This is based on the giving of gifts from the Wise men or Magi that came to see Jesus' birth. They offered three distinct gifts: Frankincense: a perfume used in worship to signify that people would worship Jesus. Gold: associated with Kings because Jesus would be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and finally Myrrh: a spice used to prepare bodies when they were to be buried because Jesus Christ would die for the sins of all mankind.

There you have it, some of the history surrounding the traditions we have in our home during Christmas. What are some of your favorites? 

Christmas Tradtions from the Smith Family

It's that time of year again as Christmas draws closer, decorations begin to go up and shopping malls are packed to capacity. I thought I would take a moment and share some of our families Christmas traditions with you and hope you might share some of yours with me.

Because the month of December and Christmas in general is my favorite time of the year, I can't wait to get all my Christmas decorations up. I have been collecting them since my mom worked at Hallmark years ago and now with yard and garage sales being so plentiful, I am still scoring more to my collection every year.

In fact, I try to get my house ready before Thanksgiving, much to the disappointment of my youngest daughter Kailee who believes that Thanksgiving is being sadly overlooked. But honestly, who decorates their home for Thanksgiving? Sure I have fall decorations but those go up before the end of September and stay up til the Christmas ones come out.

Most of the time, it's just me and Steve putting up all the decorations, pulling tubs out from our storage shed and hauling them into the house, where we plug things in to make sure that they work before putting up garland, bows, and lots of antiques I've found through many of my searches.

The one thing we hold off doing until the entire family is here is decorating our Christmas tree. We take the time to go through all our ornaments and remember those special times in our kids lives or even our own as each ornament tells its own story. In fact that is a tradition in our home. Each year, the kids pick one ornament that identifies a year in their life. It might deal with sports, a career, an interest but something they feel represents them.

We write their names on the bottom so that one day when they move out and get their own homes going, they have a pretty good starter collection going.

Another tradition, like most, is baking cookies. Each year I have vowed to reduce the numbers of varieties I bake, but usually end up making them all. Caitlyn's favorites have been magic bars, Steve's are Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls and Kailee's are Candy Canes.

Even my brother Mike, has his favorite, Spiced Pecans. I make a huge batch for him each year, and make sure he has them.

I make sugar cookies and wait for a time when all of us are together again, and we have a Christmas Cookie decorating contest, with the winner getting a $10 gift card of their choice based on votes from our Facebook posts and comments telling us which one they think is the best. 

Another tradition is visiting the Christmas lights in Alta Loma. My husband Steve, grew up there and it has been something he has done as part of his families tradition, plus he knows just how to get there and find the best places to park.

We usually rent a SUV or mini van to take whomever wants to come, and we all head out.

I give the kids each $5 to support the families who put on the event to buy a cup of hot chocolate or soft pretzel while we take part walking around and enjoying the display.

We even try to take a picture to make it a memorable event.

One of the Christmas traditions, my husband brought with him that we started in our new family is painting of plaster houses. We try and get each person to paint at least one to add to our growing collection each year.

We sign and date them and once again, when the kids move out, those will go with them as well. They have grown so much over the year with friends of the kids painting them that we are struggling to find a place to put them.

On Christmas Eve night, the kids each open a gift, even though they aren't really kids any longer. They already know what it will be, a set of pajamas to wear either to bed or for Christmas morning. When the kids were much younger, I used to include a Christmas book to be enjoyed that night before bed. We usually order dinner out that night because we know we'll be cooking all day on Christmas Day. We top it off with a movie or two from our Christmas movie collection.

Christmas Day is savored because it is over too soon. Coffee is made, music is ready and playing and Steve and I are usually showered and ready before waking our kids up. Now that they are older, there is no rush to wake up early.

We all take our time and do stockings first, each person revealing with they have, while I diligently write it all down, because no one can remember what they got from one year to the next.

Then we move on to presents and we each take the time to watch each person open their gifts.

Once the gifts are opened, showers begin while breakfast is being made. Phone calls go out to family that are home celebrating their own Christmas'. We generally watch Christmas movies all day long with each family member picking their all time favorite movie for us all to watch. They change ever year. Dinner preparations begin early with each person requesting different things. Steve has to have beets (yuck on my end), Kailee needs sparkling apple cider, Caitlyn wants Deviled Eggs, and I love stuffing. We make sure that we have plenty of fixings so that Caitlyn can take left overs home for a few days. We make turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn, green beans with bacon, biscuits with honey and butter, deviled eggs, and for dessert either apple or harvest pie, a blend of cheesecake and pumpkin pie.

That is how the Smith family celebrates Christmas, what traditions does your family incorporate that have been passed down through generations? I'd love to hear.

Why Making Memories is So Important

Shopping on Black Friday, yes as crazy as the thought seems, it is on my Bucket List. Not that I haven't experienced it before, but I wanted to add it to this year's Bucket List to see if I can find a way to put a positive spin on the day.

Yes, there is bound to be pushing, shoving, grabbing, fighting, chaos and drama while people simply set out to find the best deals for their hard earned money. But what if in the midst of all this is a way to impact people in a positive way. To show the true meaning of Christmas in spite of all that most people shy away from. From fighting for that coveted parking space in a packed shopping lot, to standing in endless lines, that seem to go on forever. What if in the midst of all this is the greatest adventure, the ability to show kindness, love and the true meaning of Christmas to the world.

What if instead of bickering over that parking spot, you let someone else have it? What if instead of complaining why they won't open another checkstand while in line, you find time to share a smile and a kind word? What if instead of rolling your eyes, while your waitress takes too long on bringing your order, you leave your comments inside your head, and thank her for doing her job as best as she can and leave a generous tip?

What if life that day was simply about enjoying making other people's day just a bit better?

All I know is when I look back on trying to remember what I got for Christmas last year, I honestly can't recall a thing I got. You know why?

Because it isn't about stuff, it's about making memories and spending time with people. I can tell you I remember waiting to decorate the tree because it was important for my oldest daughter Caitlyn and her boyfriend to be there to help. It was about looking through the ornaments we have collected over the years with the kids and remembering a time when something was important to them. Caitlyn's soccer ornaments remind us of how hard she worked to play soccer in Rhode Island and how she learned not to be afraid of the ball hitting her in the face. I look at the Sesame Street ornaments, and remember how fond Kailee, my youngest was at watching these shows on Television during her childhood or looking at her gaming ornament and remembering how much she loves to play computer games.

Each of these memories are what I truly treasure. It's why material things don't really matter. Oh sure, if you got a new car or something large it might spark a memory. But I lay you odds it's the traditions you create with your kids, the events you take part in, that will last forever. From taking your kids to see the Christmas lights and finishing it off with ice cream sundaes, or helping the homeless out with coats and a meal, to making Christmas cookies with your family. These are what matters the most.

I would encourage you to have your family write a letter outlining their favorite memories they remember from Christmas' past to share with one another each year. If you're like my family, you will begin to realize how much all those memories really means instead of all those presents they have opened during the years. Try creating some new ones this year.

Just like the movie, It's A Wonderful Life, even George Bailey realizes by the end of the movie, it isn't about stuff, it's about his family and friends that truly matter the most.

A Change in the Weather

It was a beautiful, clear sunny day yesterday up here. Sun was shining, a few passing clouds were passing by in the sky, remnants from the previous days storm on their way out of town, the wind was blowing them eastward and the weatherman's forecast for a rainy day seemed wrong once again.

Nothing can dampen my mood more than when I am anticipating rain and none comes. However by mid morning the clouds really started piling up, turning various shades of gray and blocking the sun from shining any further. The temperatures really dropped along with the wind and I don't think it heated up much past 39. I could tell by the number of times our heater kicked on that the cold was coming back in to our area.

Next thing I know, we had rain falling in a consistent rhythm. The temps continued to drop and the winds continued to howl and before we knew it, my youngest daughter was telling me it was snowing. Yes, if you go to my Facebook page, I captured it on video. Mostly because it was such an unexpected surprise, but because just watching the snow fall in itself is such a beautiful process. The intricate dance of the snowflakes falling from heaven to touch down softly and blending together, some sticking and others melting in the pooling puddles of water that covered our back patio.

God is like that at times, always consistent but loves to surprise and delight us with simple gifts that too often we take for granted, like the delicate dance of one intricately designed snowflake. If you've ever seen one close up, look at the detail in it's construction. Hard to miss that it could be a random act of fate in it's creation or a Master Builder/Planner at work? I chose to acknowledge God as a creator and not some random speck of fluff created with a water molecule that is frozen and due to its weight falls helplessly to the ground.

Can you find sometime today to catch God's gift for you? Can you find time tonight on your rush home to see the sights on your way home, that field of flowers beginning to bloom? That flower springing up in the crack on the sidewalk, the setting suns colors reflected in the beautiful masterpiece that closes the end of your day today? How about the love reflected in the eyes of those that are your family and friends that we often fail to see? I would love to have you share with me, those gifts you captured today because you took the time out to stop and notice them today. Please share them in the comment box below!

God's waiting to surprise you today, are you looking?