Traditions

Sunday lunch at Oma's after church: roast beef with homemade noodles and salad. That has become a tradition for us since moving to Germany. It is great to spend time with family on Sunday afternoons (and not need to cook!) Of course it isn't complete without coffee and cake too, and maybe a game of Uno or singing together. We've already built such great memories!

With the Christmas season coming up, other traditions come to mind too. Placing everyone's Christmas stockings out on the couch on Christmas Eve. Family coming in from out of town. Helping my mom set the table with our fancy dishware. Going to a church service. A girls' sock exchange. Playing with my nieces and nephews...and their new toys.

Now that I'm married and we're spending Christmas in our own house, we've been considering what type of traditions we want to establish. It's kind of odd to think about. How do you make traditions? They seem to be one of those things that just "are." One of those things that has always been, and will continue carrying on. But I know how easy it is for traditions to become meaningless. Often churches get criticized for being "too traditional" and not open to anything new, or stuck in their old ways. But I know the same thing can happen in families, or in the lives of any of us personally.

I heard a quote once: "Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." And I think this makes a powerful point! Traditions in themselves aren't a bad thing––at one point, someone started them and it was a meaningful, symbolic expression of their faith (not just in a spiritual sense, but an outworking of what they believed to be important). The problem is when we adopt these traditions and they are not alive to us anymore. Maybe like going to church, or reading your Bible. Activities that once had a deep importance can easily be swallowed up by routine.

In the Bible, especially the Old Testament, God asked his people to establish some important traditions.  Actually, he commanded them to celebrate. Exodus 12 describes how the Israelites were to celebrate Passover, in order to commemorate the day the Lord freed them from the Egyptians. Very specific instructions were given, and God clearly said, "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance." Exodus 23 talks about three annual festivals that were to be celebrated: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering.  These festivals were to carry on through the generations in order to honor the Lord and remember what he had done. Exodus 12:26-27 says, "And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”

Symbols and traditions are powerful, but they can be misunderstood or not used to their full potential if we don't understand the meaning of them. Thus the Lord instructed his people on how to teach their children and pass down traditions. Two years ago Mogi and I visited a Messianic Jewish synagogue for a church service, and it happened to be over the weekend of Purim (corresponding to the story of Esther and how the Lord delivered the Jews from the evil plot of Haman).  This was one of the most alive churches we've ever been to! The meaning of what they were celebrating seemed just as real to this congregation as it would have in Esther's day. It was powerful to witness, and we couldn't help but be drawn into the celebration as well. This is what I call living faith! Yes, it's a routine, and yes, it's been going on for ages, but those who participate in the traditions today understand the significance and it still impacts their lives personally.

So I want to be intentional in what we do around Christmas time. I don't want unhealthy things to become traditions, nor do I want the season to pass by without significance, or memories. One thing we did this last week that we would like to carry on in the coming years is the celebration of Advent––the four weeks leading up to Christmas, symbolizing the anticipation that was in the air before the birth of Christ, and now anticipation for his Second Coming.

We gathered together as family, and Mogi read some Scripture as we lit the first Advent Candle:

A German *tradition* is to make your own Advent wreath (Adventskranz), so last Friday a few friends invited me to join them, and they taught me how to do this homemade craft. It was fun! It caught the creative spark in me, and so this week I've been doing other decorating.







I wanted to share a few of the ideas I've been working with, and I'd love to hear yours as well! Please feel free to post pictures or links or leave comments about what your traditions are, or ideas for affordable crafts. Unfortunately it is so easy to get caught up in consumerism during the Christmas season, so we've decided to spend less and be creative with what we already have. Here are a few of my creations (and again, please feel free to share with others you think would be interested in this topic by hitting one of the buttons below for Facebook, Twitter, or Email).

A simple display on top of our bookshelf: made from twigs from the forest, pine cones found outside, berries from our tree, cinnamon sticks, and a candle I already had.

I used cardboard from a cereal box, scissors, glue, a pen, and a stamp to make these stars.

The only thing I had to buy was a roll of wrapping paper for 99 cents.

And I used these to fill this vase! Sand from the back yard, again twigs, pine cones and berries, with my little cardboard creations. Oh, and ribbon.



This is sitting on the corner of our stairway, and hopefully provides a bit of a festive feel when you enter the house.

And then for another shelf I purchased mini lights and the little white decorative balls, again using twigs and ribbon.









My husband has even been grateful for these little things...apparently he always wanted to marry someone who was creative (which I didn't know until yesterday!) So I'm thankful for his encouragement :-) I think making homemade decorations will also become one of our Christmas traditions that our children can participate in one day.

So these give a bit of an idea of how we're starting off the season (even though fall is just ending and we don't have the snow that Alberta has right now!) But I'd love to know your thoughts! How does your family celebrate Christmas? Or even beyond the "Christmas season", what are meaningful traditions that you've experienced?

Praying that by paying attention to our traditions we can come to know Christ in a deeper way,
Kristyn