Traditions
Traditions are something that we all have. I love to listen to others share their personal holiday traditions. They are always so different and varied. Many are humorous to us but serious to others. We have them in our family. I have a ribbon jello salad that I have traditionally fixed every holiday. It is very easy to make and really nothing special except it looks pretty and festive. One year I just decided that I was going to fix something different. It was time for a change, so I searched and found another salad recipe and I fixed it for our Christmas dinner. Well let me just say that I won’t be trying that again. Everyone came to the table and one after one asked where the ribbon salad was. I told them that I had tried something different. You would have thought that I told them I had shot Santa Claus! I started laughing as all three of our adult children, their spouses and even some of the older grandchildren sat there with sad, dejected faces. I learned an important lesson that Christmas. You don’t mess with tradition or the ribbon salad!
As we head into the Christmas season let us be aware of the traditions that we are blessed with and spend some time thinking and praying for those who do not have those family traditions. Each year at our church we do an angel ornament tree. There are a lot of tears shed by the volunteers as we write the Christmas wishes on the ornaments. Last year elementary age children asked for sheets, towels, socks, pajamas and toothbrushes. There is a real message in that. The ornament that we got this year was from a first grader who wanted orange juice.
My challenge to you in the next weeks is to look for ways that you can make someone’s Christmas a little brighter. Give them a Christmas that will stand out in their mind as one of the happiest. In our Boundless we have been listing ideas of things that might be possibilities for you as an individual, group or church. We each have so much to be thankful for so let’s share a little of those blessings with others.
