Tonight I went to a dinner at our church for the women of our church. We had a special dinner and the focus was about having gratitude through the holiday season, and to focus on the spirit and blessings we have in our lives.
My friend Leslie, shared about how she pulls out a large piece of butcher paper each year, tapes it to the wall and her family writes down what they are grateful for that year. Each year they pull it out to add more, and it's fun to go back and read what the kids have written in the past. Something they look forward to each Thanksgiving!
Then one sister shared about her struggle of having a child with Austism. She does a walk each year that she tries to reflect on how some parents or children have it harder versus what she has. She tries to remember that everyone has their daily struggles and tries to be grateful for what she has. They do the simple things throughout the holiday season by centering it around Christ.
What struck me the most...is you need to find traditions whether you have kids or not. That the holiday season is just not the one day, but it's the whole month, to month and a half starting with Thanksgiving. We should find ways to bring in the true meaning of Christmas. One tradition I want to start with my husband this year is the "Dutch Shoes." It's where you pick one day, and there is tiny gifts that mean something, or notes that center on LOVE. My husband served a mission for our church in the West Indies, and I have always wanted to find something that could be from the Dutch culture.
I even started to look at some Dutch Shoes tonight, to get a jump start on this fun tradition. So...my question to you is.. what are some of your favorite family traditions? I would love you to share, as I'm trying to start some of our own "New" traditions this year and I'm open for ideas and suggestions!
XOXO
