By Brenda Cannon Henley
For many years, our family has held to a tradition of reading what is traditionally termed “the Christmas story” from Luke 2 on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Different family members take turns reading the well-known, and time-honored, verses out loud for all that have gathered to hear again. The children remember times when they were in Christmas plays at church and school and had to memorize these precious verses of Scripture. Adults nod and think back to a time when they once could quote the entire chapter from memory.

You and your family may not choose to read these verses, but may I encourage you this year to adopt, form, or create a special tradition that is yours alone. Choose something with care that every family member can participate in without embarrassment or memory loss. Try not to put anyone “on the spot” or ask them to do something with which they are not comfortable.

Another tradition we have kept for years now is that however we are seated around the house, we ask the youngest or oldest to begin and look to his left and say something that they have learned from the person seated there. It can be short, sweet, and to the point, or more lengthy. Some have been very funny and some have been very serious. This exercise never fails to bring back lots of good, warm memories, and someone always learns something they had not known before that time. You might try that this year in your own home.

Another fun thing we have done is to have an adult write out simple requests, verses from Scripture, or any question that is relevant for the entire group. Each person reaches into the container or basket and chooses one slip of paper. One person is designated to begin and he or she has to answer the question, find and read the Scripture, or perform the suggested request. It is always a lot of fun, and again, family members and friends share facts and truths that were often unknown before our gathering.

We do one other thing as well, and have for years now. We open our gifts one at a time. Mothers get very weary of shopping, buying gifts, and not enjoying seeing each person receiving and opening them. We begin with the youngest member of the group and proceed to the eldest. It is so much more fun to watch each person exclaim and ooh and aah over the chosen item. We then pass the individual gifts around the room so all can see and investigate to their heart’s content. Well, we do that with all except candy or homemade food items. Our family members would not hesitate to dig right in and eat the treat(s) up no matter whose name was found on the gift card.

I think it would be fun if our readers shared some of the Christmas and New Year’s Eve traditions with us so that we could post the very best ones. Simply send your family traditions to [email protected], and I will collect and share them in coming weeks.

“And she (Mary) brought forth her first-born son (Jesus), and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)

Merry Christmas to you and your family. I so look forward to reading your family traditions and feel I will learn to adopt many new ones for my own family.

Brenda Cannon Henley can be reached at (409) 781-8788 or at [email protected].

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