My friend Michelle sent me a note with her favorite Christmas memory filled with traditions:

“Absolutely, hands down….
Family dinner, followed by the opening of one gift, then Midnight service at church, ending with ‘Silent Night’ by candlelight and coming home and making ‘reindeer food’ with my nieces and nephews.  They’re grown now and we all are in different places, but it warms my heart to think about it!”

What a great evening! There are several elements to this evening that make it special: food, gifts, worship, tradition, and fellowship. Any great memorable tradition combines many of these elements. When all five senses are engaged, the experience is etched in your memory very strongly.

Beautiful photo courtesy of Miriam.

Rhonda, a fellow elf, sent in a favorite family tradition:

“Every year on Christmas eve, we bake a birthday cake for Jesus.  We light some candles and sing Happy Birthday.  We have decided his favorite cake is probably chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.”

My daughter thinks this is a great idea! Kids love birthday parties and it’s a great way to add another Jesus-focused element into your Christmas celebration.

Photo courtesy of Tim Notari.

Unplug the Christmas Machine:
A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back into the Season

I highly recommend this book as a great way to get yourself centered and focus on what really matters during the Christmas season. Sometimes, we just do things during this time of year because we’re “supposed to,” or other people have certain expectations from us that we keep trying to meet. This is the time of year to look at your family and those who mean the most to you and decide what’s best and most meaningful for them. Would you continue baking a mincemeat pie every year even though only one piece is ever eaten? Just because so-and-so did that, doesn’t mean you are sentenced to it. Take some time to read this little book and figure out what you really want this year.

This is a wonderful selection for small group study or book club to focus on in preparation for Christmas. Get a few copies and invite your friends over for coffee! Make it fun!

You don’t need to be an economist to know what’s been happening this year. Everything is more expensive, jobs are slightly more tenuous, and investments are all over the place. People are losing their homes. In this kind of economic climate, do we really need to go out and get the latest everything so we’re keeping up with the Joneses who are even worse off than we? Seriously, folks! Focus on the important things!