Our Favorite Holiday Traditions

Christmas is now just five days away, and our blog team is reflecting on our favorite holiday traditions. We know the holidays aren’t always filled with jolly memories for all, and we pray this Christmas brings joy to each of you and reminds you of the love and great sacrifice of Christ. Whether you’re already full of Christmas cheer or need a little help boosting your spirits, we hope you’ll enjoy walking down our own memory lanes of Christmas!

Advent Jar

Like many others, in our home we love Christmas. As a mom, one of my favorite things is connecting fun with meaning. I want my girls to remember fun things that spark truth in them.

One way we do this is the Advent Jar. This family activity gives us something to look forward to in the Christmas season, and helps us look back on all with which we are blessed.

The Advent Jar is simply a jar full of surprises and meanings. My husband and I fill a large Mason jar with 24 pieces of paper — each one with an activity on it, and some activities are serious and others are just fun! With an Advent Jar you get to pick the activities, so it fits you and your home while being focused on Christmas traditions, the story of Jesus and serving others.

Some of our favorites are having a Christmas pajama dance party, reading the Christmas story aloud, making Christmas cookies and delivering them to neighbors, and having a birthday party for Jesus. Some nights we make a joint decision to find one that fits with the flow of the day and week. If we know we have little time that evening we decide to find an activity that fits our schedule. Having a birthday party for Jesus has really stuck with my oldest daughter. She clearly remembers that Christmas is when Jesus was born and this has shaped how she views Christmas. What kind of things would you fill the jar with?

Chelsea

A Christmas Key for Santa

Growing up in rural middle Tennessee, my family’s houses always had fireplaces. That is, until we moved into a new house when I was nine years old and my brother was nearly seven. At those young ages, we still fully believed in the reality and magic of Santa Clause, and my parents always went all out to create an inviting atmosphere that was rich in the story of jolly, old Saint Nick. The first Christmas in my new childhood home proved to be a bit more difficult to invite in Santa Clause due to his notorious descent down the fireplace. Tragically, our new fireplace was simply a gas one without a chimney atop the house. I remember, though it was many years ago, frantically questioning my mom about how Santa was going to bring us presents! My mom, being the genius she is, came up with a new plan to ensure my brother and I still felt the magic of waking up on Christmas morning to presents, fully believing it was Santa who had brought them.

On Christmas morning, there were several clues around the house pointing to a surprise on the front porch, and upon opening the door, I saw a huge gold key with a note from Santa sitting beneath it. The note read something along the lines of, “Because I could not come into your house through the fireplace, I have left a magic shrinking key that fits into your door. Every year, make sure to leave the key on the porch so I can enter and leave your presents.” To this day, every single Christmas Eve my brother and I place that same key on the front porch of my parents’ house. And, every year I am reminded of my mom’s wit, my familial relationships, the joy of Christmas and, ultimately, of how special it is to keep a tradition alive to preserve the childlike joy of Christmas far beyond the years of your belief in Santa Clause. 

Kinsley

Christmas Lights

When I was little, probably six or seven, I yelled out in my sleep, “No, Daddy! Not the Christmas tree!” To this day, we don’t know what I was dreaming about, but clearly I was very passionate about it.

What can I say? I have always loved Christmas. From the decorating of the tree to the setting up of and playing with my favorite Nativity set (I thought the shepherd was cuter than Joseph, so I would always make Mary be with him instead, and my mom was constantly having to switch it back) to the creation of the snow village and then, one of my most favorite of all traditions, Christmas lights!

I’m giddy just thinking about it. Our house always had the prettiest golden lights on the outside that were almost always lit during the month of December. And, there were a few neighborhoods near us known for their lights. We would bundle up, grab some hot cocoa, turn up the Christmas music, and drive through the neighborhoods slowly. Some of my favorite memories, as a kid and an adult, have been with Christmas lights. Something about it just brings out the fun memories, as well as the goofy and sentimental sides of people. I’m a big “team” person. I love groups and doing things together, and I think that’s why I love Christmas (and Christmas lights, in particular!) so much. You can’t go see Christmas lights alone, and you can’t decorate your house with Christmas lights alone! The very nature of it requires people to be together. And, for a season celebrating the arrival of a God who came to be with us, I love this tradition that brings people together.

Alicia

Church Christmas Concert

Growing up, we attended a town church (maybe 70-90 people attending each Sunday), and I loved being a part of the Christmas concert each December. On the day of the performance, we would have a bunch of twinkly Christmas lights hung across the ceiling. With the lights dim in the sanctuary, it created a cozy and magical setting to eat our turkey dinner at noon and then watch what the kids in the church had prepared. They'd been practicing since November, working on their play lines, learning the lyrics to various songs, and fitted for angel and shepherd costumes.

Over the years I played numerous angels and, one year, the play had a Mexican theme, so I have a photo of me as a small child wearing a poncho and sombrero, shaking a maraca as I sang songs next to my peers. I sang for the first time in public — a solo — during one of the Christmas concerts. A few weeks beforehand, I told the Youth Pastor I had changed my mind and wouldn't be doing the solo. He wouldn't let me quit, though, and said he wouldn't remove that part of the already-printed programs. I was so annoyed at him, but I'm glad now he was annoying! I went on to sing at various other events due to being forced to have the courage to sing at that concert.

As I got older, I even was allowed to write the Christmas play! It was such an incredible experience to see an idea I'd written down come to life on stage. I've always prided myself on being creative, and that play was! I pulled a "Narnia" and created my own enchanted land, and the whole story was centered around Trans the Dragon (an ode to trans fat!), cyclops, and magical beans that made you toot! Somehow I tied it into Jesus. It was the best feeling sitting in the dark sanctuary that day, seeing all my church family hoot with laughter. I don't they’d ever experienced so many fart jokes at a Christmas concert! Ha!

I loved seeing younger kids be allowed to write the play, too, being inspired by the two I wrote. Our church family was always so good at allowing the kids to grow in their passions and callings, even if it meant offertory or the annual Christmas concert wasn't perfect or traditional because of it. Such a wonderful church family I had growing up! I will always smile when I think back to Christmas concert memories over the years.

Nyla

Picking Out a Christmas Tree

If there’s one thing people know about me, it’s that I love Christmas. I have more than enough Christmas socks to wear a different pair each day of the month, own a large collection of holiday shirts and sweaters, and even don a Christmas tree onesie with a jingle bell on the hat.

Even now that I’m married and no longer live at home, I still put up outdoor Christmas lights with my dad and decorate the inside of my childhood home with my mom every year. However, my favorite Christmas tradition of all is picking out the beloved Christmas tree. Every Christmas morning, I get up before the sun rises and sit in front of my tree. During the quiet hours of the early morning before the rest of my family awakes, I like to take it all in — the tree donned with lights and ornaments, stockings hung on the fireplace, and gifts picked out and wrapped with care for each person.

As far back as I can remember, my family and I have picked out real Christmas trees. There’s just something magical about the smell and look of a live tree that can’t be beat by a fake one, no matter how tall and beautifully decorated a pre-lit one may be. Having a slightly different pine each year means each tree has its own memories with it. We decorate the tree with ornaments that tell the stories of our lives — ones gifted by family and friends, some we make at school when we’re young (can anyone say googley eyes and glitter?), and even some we’ve picked out ourselves from the store. Each year, each tree, each Christmas hold their own special and warm memories of holidays spent with loved ones celebrating the One who loves us best.

Katelyn

From all of us at Stand Unshaken, we wish you a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy new year! We’re so grateful for each of you!