Christmas Traditions

You know you have them! Every family does! It's that wonderful time of the year for family traditions! Family traditions can be as silly as cookies running away or as serious as a Birthday cake for Jesus. Christmas just isn't Christmas if you do not celebrate these tradition. Below is a list of ten traditions which my family has celebrated over the years.

10) Christmas movie date with Mrs. Rutherford. I have been going to the movies around Christmas time with Mrs. Rutherford since Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. (I know a long time.) Mrs. Rutherford is my second mom. She has seen/taught/guided/instructed/loved on me since I was a snot nose middle school kid. I am the man I am today due in large part to Mrs. Rutherford. Over the years we have seen a lot of movies, most good and some not so much. She has shared in every major life moment. One year I told her I got into Liberty University, one year I told her I wanted to be single forever, and the next year I told her I was getting married. Christmas movie dates with Mrs. Rutherford are a highlight of the season.

9) Gingerbread men running away! Ever since I can remember the gingerbread men in our house have been magical. Every year during the week leading up to Christmas we would make Gingerbread men, decorating them with icing. Some years you couldn't see any cookie just icing! However, no matter how much icing the Gingerbread men had on them, one of them, inevitably would always run away. We would try breaking their legs or eating their heads, however, one always runs away. One year we searched high and low for the gingerbread man and we could not find him anywhere. We were hot and tired from all of our searching so Zac walked over and turned on the fan. As the blades began to spin, and the fan picked up momentum, ZOOM, the gingerbread man came soaring off the van and crash landed onto the couch. Gingerbread men running away is a highlight of the season.

8) Every Christmas my brother, sister, and I would sit in the same spots to open our presents. We are worse than Baptists on Sunday. My brother would place all of his presents in the chair, my sister would have the couch, and I would have the corner next to the TV. Do NOT try to take our spots on Christmas morning or we will fight you! The same spots every year is a highlight of the season.

7) Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas Eve dinner. Nothing says Christmas like a box of chicken, mac and cheese, and a biscuit from KFC. KFC dinner is a highlight of the season.

6) Dunkin Doughnuts on Christmas morning! For as long as I can remember we have had DD on Christmas morning. We all have our favorites. My mom likes the chocolate, my sister the sprinkled, my brother the long curly kind, my dad the kind you dip into your coffee, and me, all I want is a doughnut. Christmas Eve we all pile into the car and pick out our favorites. Dunkin Doughnuts on Christmas morning is a highlight of the season.

5) Dysfunction! My family has perfected the art of a dysfunctional Christmas. To be honest it is not so much Christmas as it is the days leading up to Christmas. Whether it is arguing over what church to go to, my sister and I competing, no one doing the Christmas puzzle, or my dad yelling at a wall (I'm not sure if this happened around Christmas or not but it is a funny story and you should defiantly ask him about it), the holiday season is filled with dysfunction. No Christmas is "perfect" and that is OK! In the craziness which is Christmas a little dysfunction is a much needed break. Only in a close family are you able to have dysfunction, because only in a close family do you feel comfortable enough around each other to be yourself. Dysfunction is a part of every family and it is the dysfunction which makes you a family. Dysfunction is a highlight of the season.

4) Not sleeping on Christmas Eve and getting up insanely early! Christmas Eve is the worst night of sleep anyone gets all year. The anticipation of the presents and all of the fun the next day fills our minds as we attempt in vain to fall asleep. Not sleeping on Christmas Eve has led to us getting up insanely early to open up presents. Most years we are up between 5:00-6:00am and have all of the presents opened before the sun comes up. My parents have had to set a time limit on when we are allowed to get out of bed and attack the stalkings. No one is allowed to touch a present until everyone else is up. We have had a running competition for twelve years to see who is the first one up, usually it is between my brother and I but one year my sister set her alarm, woke up, and went to sleep on the couch, so that she could beat us up in the morning. Not sleeping and getting up insanely early is a highlight of the season.

3) Opening a present or two or three a few days early! Growing up we would always hound my mom a few days before Christmas to let us open an early Christmas present. She would always give in! While some families open clothes as an early gift we would be allowed to open a legit gift which made the present all the more special. One year we even talked her into opening three early Christmas presents. Opening a present, or two, or three a few days early is a highlight of the season.

2) Christmas object lesson! Every Christmas my mom has a present which she has been thinking about all year. These object lessons are always small little gifts with a huge lesson. Over the years we have gotten a dove, boxing gloves (God is fighting for you), mustard seed (faith as small as a mustard seed and you can move mountains), plumb line (measurements on God's word), nail (Jesus dying for us), and numerous other objects lessons which have taught us about God, His Word, and the true meaning of the season. Christmas object lessons is a highlight of the season.

1) Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus! We have been baking a birthday cake for Jesus since before any of us were Christians. Over the years the cake has grown in significance for each of us as we have come to understand the true reason for the season. In the midst of Christmas it is easy to forget the true reason for the season and the Birthday cake has helped to remind us. Christmas has little to do with presents, traditions, Christmas cookies, and everything to do with the birth of a baby. A baby who would grow up and die in order to reconcile us back to God. Jesus is the reason for the season! Birthday cake for Baby Jesus is a highlight of the season.

My family has many traditions which have developed over the years. Some goofy to the outside world but very important to us as a family. Every family has them, big or small, they are the things which make the holidays special. What are a few traditions which your family has had over the years?