Search Results for: blog marriage christmas traditions

Family Traditions

One area that we were asked about during our Home Study was what family traditions we had or that we would like to do with our children, and also what the extended family thought about them. We had never really given any thought to it so this made us actually sit down and have a great discussion about traditions and the holidays. We started by making a list of the different major holidays and then started talking about what each of us did growing up and what parts of that did we want to make as our own traditions. You … Continue reading →

How Traditions Start

Christmas Eve in our household often means going to church and singing carols. Christmas Eve is a busy time, as after we come home from carols then there is the usual settling down too wrap gifts for each other and for family before they arrive over Christmas. When we were first married we always vowed we would wrap earlier and not get caught up in last minute preparations but somehow over the years it never happened. After we have wrapped presents for family, to the sound of accompanying Christmas carols playing on the CD player, then Mick usually disappears to … Continue reading →

Differences in Traditions

My husband grew up in a home where Christmas was celebrated to the max. There were piles of presents, tons of goodies, and a lot going on all the time. I grew up in a home where money was super-tight, and Christmas was, by societal standards, pretty small. As adults, my husband doesn’t really care much for presents or personal belongings. I, on the other hand, go through a kind of holiday guilt, wondering if I got my children “enough.” I buy, bring home, wrap, and nearly always tuck something away for a birthday or later Christmas, realizing I over-shopped … Continue reading →

How to Put Christ back into Christmas

‘Christmas would be great if they didn’t try and bring religion in it,’ I heard someone say. Well I’m sorry, but you can’t have Christmas without Christ. That’s what Christmas is all about. Santa and presents, the tree and decorations, food and family and all those other things are peripheral. They are not what make Christmas. You can have all those things and it may be a celebration of some sort but it is not Christmas. Christmas is about Jesus. Too often though, He is pushed aside. So here are some ways to put Christ back into Christmas. Send out … Continue reading →

Decorating the ChristmasTree

Everyone has different ideas about how to decorate a Christmas tree. Some people like them to be filled with memories of Christmases past and decorations that the children have made over the years. With each decoration put on the tree a memory is unleashed. They fill the room like a beautiful perfume. Other people want a tree that is elegant and simple where all the baubles and tinsel match and are all gold or silver or white. Some others like lots of tinsel draped everywhere or they may choose to go for handmade ornaments. There are as many different ways … Continue reading →

Christmas Traditions

Nearly every family has Christmas traditions. Ours includes having a real Christmas tree. Just any old pine tree won’t do. Fortunately I have a husband who understands how important it is that the tree is absolutely right. So when it came to a choice between getting a tree we weren’t happy with or going back later for a fresh tree, I knew he would agree we needed to go back. The tree we eventually got is beautiful. Just as well. The first question our daughter asked yesterday on the phone when I told her we’d bought it was, ‘what is … Continue reading →

A Christmas Tableaux

With just over a month to Christmas it’s time to start thinking about Christmas decorations. I rarely buy new decorations but jets tend to recycle the same ones in different places or freshened up each year. Usually like Mary Ann I have bowls willed with pinecones as part of my table decorations. This year though I have a brand new Christmas decoration and it will on prominent display. It is a Christmas tableau. Released by Walker Books The First Noel – A Christmas Carousel by Jan Pienkowski is a delightful work of art. While closed it looks like a book, … Continue reading →

Decorating for Christmas

Now I don’t know about you, but I’m appalled at some of the Christmas displays on homes. Where is a written that Christmas light displays or Christmas decorations have to be tacky? Am I the only person out there who doesn’t think that more is not always the best way to go? It often seems that when it comes to Christmas anything goes. There are Santas and elves, reindeer and snowmen and well you get the idea. Of source in a country like Australia where we have recently embarked in summer and where temperatures are hot, not cold, snowmen and … Continue reading →

Who Gets Christmas?

Yes, I know Christmas is still two months away but it’s not too early to start thinking about who gets Christmas. Before you are married it’s usually an easy enough decision. Most people would spend Christmas with their family. Once you marry suddenly there are a whole host of other people and other traditions to consider. If you have families that are close together in distance it may work to go to one for Christmas lunch and the other for dinner or it may be possible to all get together.But sometimes that doesn’t really keep anyone happy. If your families … Continue reading →

Christmas Lights?

Last week at church the minister talked of why Christmas and Christmas lights always go together. I’d heard other reasons as to how they were connected but they often seemed rather tenuous. But I liked the way he linked them. It made the most sense to me. Right from the beginning Christmas has always been linked with light. He used as his reference the prophecy of Isaiah 60:1-3 and the light coming into the darkness. John 1:1-5 and John 1:9-18 also pick up on this theme, identifying Jesus as the fulfillment of that Isaiah prophecy and the light come into … Continue reading →