Family
Traditions
and
Celebrations
Holiday Traditions: Renewing our Minds!
Christmas and other holiday traditions are dear to many of us, but as we grow in the Lord, we want our traditions to more accurately reflect our growing faith and maturity in Christ.
Traditions are set patterns that constitute a way of life, past down from generation to generation. Some traditions are inherently evil, such as getting drunk on New Year's Eve and some traditions are inherently good, such as going to church every Sunday as a family. But many traditions are neutral.
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Celebrating God's Goodness
Traditions can be a wonderful tool for your family to celebrate God's goodness; to instill values; to establish a unique identity for your family; to provide security; and to build memories.
"The joy of the Lord is my strength." (Nehemiah 8:10) is a verse we often quote; but did you know that the context of that verse is celebrating the Lord's goodness with feasting?
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Holiday Traditions Instill Values
We have the great privilege as parents to train our children to walk with God and to walk in all His ways.
Traditions are the perfect time to instill values in a positive, fun way!!! What fun to learn to honor parents by serving them breakfast in bed or giving them beautifully wrapped presents on Mother's Day or Father's Day. How nice to learn the importance of thankfulness by sharing praise reports around the table before indulging in a delicious meal. What a blast to have patriotism taught by acting out skits about our country's heritage while wearing red, white, and blue.
Each holiday can have a specific thing that we celebrate and specific values and Biblical principles that we strive to instill.
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Traditions Establish Your Family's Identity;
Provide Security; & Build Memories!
Marriage ushers in a new family unit with or without the blessing of children. You not only become a couple, but a household. You are separate from your childhood families and are now establishing your own identity, habits and traditions.
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."
(Proverbs 24:3, 4)
You are building and establishing your own unique family and you are filling their lives with rare and beautiful treasures. This is an ongoing process throughout your career as a wife and mother.
Routine, habits and traditions all provide security and a sense of "this is how we do it at my house."
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New Year's
"For I know that plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
- Celebrate: Our hope for the future in Christ
- Values: Reflection; Examination; Goal setting
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Special family meal and/or dessert
- Family prayer meeting with worship & communion at midnight
- Everyone share God's greatest blessing for past year & one way God answered prayer
- Make goals for the coming year. Pray for one another
Valentine's Day
"Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure." (Hebrews 13:4)
- Celebrate: God's gift of love and marriage
- Values: Honor marriage
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Decorate with roses and hearts
- Let the children bake heart-shaped cookies
- Read Bible love stories: David & Abigail; Ruth and Boaz; Issac and Rebekah
- Pray for married couples in the church
- Exchange love/appreciation notes
- Eat a fancy dinner by candlelight while Mom and Dad share the story of their courtship and marriage
Easter
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25, 26)
- Celebrate: Jesus' resurrection and eternal life
- Values: Newness, renewing, rebirth, hope for Heaven
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Have a family sunrise service
- Attend church together in new dresses or matching outfits
- Act out the Easter story, or read it together or watch a movie on the life of Jesus
- Decorate with spring colors: green, yellow, pink, and lavender
- Hide plastic eggs filled with candy, let children find eggs and empty candy; then they put resurrection symbols inside and hide them for the adults
- Share the Gospel with your children and invite them to become Believers
Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day
"Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Ephesians 6:2, 3)
- Celebrate: God's gift of parents
- Values: Honoring parents
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Breakfast in bed
- Cards, flowers and phone calls to Dad, Mom and grandparents
- Fix favorite meals or take to favorite restaurant
- Talk about fatherly aspects of God on Father's Day and motherly aspects of God on Mothers' Day
- Make a slide show of graduate from birth to graduation
- Everyone share what they admire and appreciate about the graduate
- Dad gets his favorite deserts for seven nights in a row---different ones
- Mom gets chocolate!!!!
Independence Day
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." (Proverbs 14:34)
- Celebrate: Freedom to serve God, Christian heritage
- Values: Patriotism, appreciation for freedom
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Fly your flag outside
- Discuss Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and godly founding fathers
- Make up skits about historical events
- Watch fireworks display and sing patriotic songs
- Decorate with red, white, and blue and eat traditional American foods
Reformation Day (10/31)/All Saints Day (11/1)
"These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 11:39-12:1)
- Celebrate: Our Christian Heritage & History
- Values: Courage, Standing firm for the Truth, Making Disciples
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Heroes for Jesus Party
- Learn about Martin Luther & The 95 Thesis nailed on the Wittenburg Door
- Act out the story of Martin Luther or another Christian hero
- Watch a movie about Martin Luther or another Christian hero
- Make a church history timeline
Thanksgiving
"Give thanks in all circumstances," (I Thessalonians 5:18)
- Celebrate: God's abundant blessings
- Values: Gratefulness, praise
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Tell the story of the first Thanksgiving
- Everyone share what they are thankful for and thank Jesus!
- Invite friends over for a Praise Breakfast---share testimonies and follow with a time of worship
- Contribute food or deliver food baskets to the needy
- Invite those without family to share holiday
- Decorate with horn of plenty, fruits and vegetables, autumn leaves, baskets, pilgrims, Indians and turkeys
- Eat traditional meal and try to include foods from the original Thanksgiving feast
Christmas
"For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son�that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life!" (John 3:16)
- Celebrate: God's gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus!
- Values: Giving
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Decorate Christmas Tree
- Christmas Family Devotions
- Christmas Unit Studies instead of regular school
- Make a baby layette for Jesus and give to a Crisis Pregnancy Center
- Invite those without family to share holiday
- Decorate with red & green, angels, stars, velvet bows, teddy bears, candles, manger scenes, stockings, bells, and family heirlooms
- Traveling Dinner on Christmas Eve
- Sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus on Christmas morning
- Eat traditional meals
Birthdays
"You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:13, 14)
- Celebrate:
God's gift of birthday person
- Values:Self-esteem, honoring others
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Make everyone's birthday special with their favorite meals, parties, gifts, etc
- Share why we are thankful for the birthday person and thank Jesus for them
- Pray over birthday person
- Look at baby book or baby pictures
Graduations
"Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. " (Romans 13:7)
- Celebrate: God's gift of the graduate
- Values: Hard work, completing a task
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Traditions to establish family identity:
- Make a scrapbook of school years
- Graduation ceremony and party
- "Roast" the graduate
- Family pray over graduate after he shares his dreams and plans for the future
- Make a slide show of graduate from birth to graduation
- Everyone share what they admire and appreciate about the graduate
- Make a "wisdom book" where everyone writes a verse that applies to the graduate and God's will
Family Routines and Habits
to Establish
- Going to Church
- Daily Personal Quiet Time
- Daily Family Devotions
- Weekly Family Nights
- Daily Family Meals Together
- Weekly Family Cleaning & Household Projects
- Reading Aloud
- Tuck-ins with stories & prayer
- Daily "Five Things"
- ( Make bed, brush teeth & hair, QuitTime, dress & clean room )
- Hospitality
©2008 Meredith Curtis (adapted from Jesus Fill My Heart and
Home and Celebrate Christmas! by MLC)
All rights reserved. Used with permission.