Traditions...

Since the death of my father, our family has really been at a loss for celebration of Christmas. Our family always gathered at my parents house on Christmas day. Mom was the matriarch of the kitchen, each of us being assigned jobs...some went without saying after years of practice. Dinners were filled with good food, family, laughter and love. Christmas day was about sharing time together as we remember the birth of our Saviour.

My father died 3 weeks before Christmas. His death was devastating to our family. For the past couple of Christmas' it has been rote. Just getting through the holiday season with the hole my father filled.

This year, is the first without my mother here. She has gone to celebrate the holidays with my brother and his family out of state. I am so grateful she took this trip, as she will spend Christmas with my nieces for the first time ever....they are 12 and 10 years old and never had a Christmas with her. It leaves me in a whole new ballgame. I pray that they will have a wonderful time with her.

Well, that leaves me feeling as if I am holding the bag. So this year, we are going to shake up our Christmas celebrations. In the past, we have awoke on Christmas morning to gifts, then off to the kitchen to prepare for a 3pm meal. This year, we will have our "dinner" on Christmas Eve. We will also be celebrating my daughters birthday for she is my best Christmas Present...born December 24 (I cannot believe she is approaching 30!) So our meal will be ended with Birthday cake instead of the usual pumpkin pie.

For Christmas Day, we will eat the leftovers with pie. So all of us shall spend the day together. I will have card and other games out for us to play together. I pray this will be blessed by God and we again will fill our house with laughter on this precious day...