“Traditions”

When I hear the word tradition, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two events that come to my mind.  At Thanksgiving, many families take turns saying what they are thankful for before dinner. As a child waiting for my mom’s 14 siblings, their spouses, and their 3 or 4 children to speak was torture,but I carried that tradition on when I had children because it was important for us to be reminded of the many blessing God has given us. And now that thanksgiving is at my house with children and grandchildren that tradition is still living on. My most favorite Christmas tradition was one created by my parents out of necessity. We always went to my grandmothers and grandfathers’ houses on Christmas which required a lot of travel.  So we opened all our presents on Christmas Eve after reading the Christmas story. On Christmas morning we would sing Happy Birthday, Jesus before leaving for grandparents.  Once I was married and had children, I added a new tradition. Presents from us are opened on Christmas Eve after we read the Christmas Story, and everyone has answered the question  “If you could have been there when Jesus was born who or what would you have wanted to be and why?”  Sounds silly, but its another way to be reminded of what Christmas should be about. Angela, Jeff’s wife has added another tradition of having a birthday cake for Jesus. The Bible talks about traditions some good and some bad. Deuteronomy 11:19 talks about how we are to teach our children about God’s commands everywhere we go. –  19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. – God tells us that we are to teach our children His commands.  This isn’t just on Sunday or just during holidays, but rather in our daily lives. We need to teach them about a relationship with their heavenly Father, so that when we are gone each generation will continue to remember and pass it on to their children.