Unexpected Traditions
Years ago at Christmastime when my daughters were little ones I purchased a bag of Christmas M&M’s. It was a good size bag and I couldn’t find anything to put them in. They were a favorite treat for them, so I wanted to make them easily accessible. I finally decided to look in my curio cabinet. Yes, I’m old, I have a curio cabinet. I pulled out a crystal bowl that my mom had given me. I never used it I only displayed it. I thought, well this will work. It’s pretty and festive. I’ll just dump them in here. I put the M&M’s in the bowl and left it on the counter so whenever the girls wanted to grab some they could do so on their own. It has a crystal lid so I could always hear when they reached in for some. This helped me know when they were on the verge of overdoing it.
This became an unintentional long-standing tradition in our house. When it was Christmas it was time to buy the red and green M&M’s. As they got older I remember not putting the bowl out one year. No M&M’s, no crystal bowl. I remember my daughters coming into the house and saying “Where are the M&M’s?” My response, “I didn’t buy any M&M’s. I didn’t do that this year. Silly me, I assumed it was something they had outgrown.
The exclamation of shock and unbelief that came from them was unexpected. What do you mean there are no M&M’s? What do you mean you’re not putting out the bowl? That’s tradition, you have to keep doing that!
It was a hilarious moment! For me anyway. I had no idea that such a small thing, a whim actually, was making such a big impact on their Christmas memories. So of course, we bought M&M’s and put them in the designated crystal bowl. I never made that error in judgment again!
Both daughters are out of the house now, but this Christmas you better believe I will have that bowl of M&M’s out on the counter because even though they don’t live with me they will be at my house for Christmas.
My mama’s, their grandmama’s crystal bowl better be on the counter full of red and green.
This has caused me to think nothing we do for our children with love, compassion, and caring is wasted. We never know what they’re going to remember. We never know what they’re going to latch onto that will be a precious memory for them as they grow into adulthood. You probably have your own Christmas traditions as well. Some of them were probably passed down from your Mom, grandparents, generations before you, but you’ve kept them going.
I love Christmas. I love that our Lord and Savior clothed himself in humanity to live like us so we could have an eternity with him one day. Celebrating this act of mercy and redemption is a tradition that I feel should always be at the forefront of Christmas. When my girls were little, their Dad would bring out their small toy nativity set and we would play-act the characters along with the Bible story. They outgrew that one, but it remains a precious memory. I am writing this to encourage you to make precious memories.
They don’t have to be grandiose ideas or productions. Small things done with love and care touch our family’s lives in ways we sometimes can’t imagine.
If you haven’t started, do something. Create a tradition with your family they can hold onto. Don’t declare, we’re going to start a tradition! Just do it and see how it goes. If it’s a win, keep it going. If it’s a flop well . . . re-think it. I pray you have a wonderful, blessed Christmas and that you remember the true reason for the season is that Jesus came to seek and save the lost.