{"id":32368,"date":"2022-09-10T16:06:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/10-favorite-christmas-traditions\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:06:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:06:51","slug":"10-favorite-christmas-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/10-favorite-christmas-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Favorite Christmas Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Matt Henslee<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to celebrating the birth of Christ, many of our readers likely enjoy a variety of Christmas traditions. Perhaps some of you are new to the whole parenting thing and are deciding what kind of traditions you\u2019ll carry on or start for your family. Maybe you\u2019re a little older now and enjoy reminiscing on the years that have passed.<\/p>\n

I asked a few friends to share their favorite traditions around the Christmas season. Here are ten of them:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cSlaughtering a glorious pine and placing in the home until it\u2019s a fire hazard.\u201d <\/strong>I think we found the pyro.<\/p>\n

2. \u201cWe’ve been ordering a personalized ornament from Calliope Designs since the second year of our marriage. The first one we got was cute because it had a pregnant penguin and a male penguin, so we got it to celebrate our upcoming baby. Since then, we\u2019re now up to a penguin group of five.\u201d<\/strong> I like this a lot.<\/p>\n

3. \u201cThe airing of grievances.\u201d <\/strong>I thought that was called a deacon meeting. I\u2019m kidding! I had a little fun with this one here.<\/p>\n

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4. \u201cPutting out milk and cookies for me to eat later.\u201d<\/strong> Works unless you have one of my daughters who thinks we should leave out carrots and celery. If I had my druthers, I’d leave out waffles and eggnog.<\/p>\n

5. \u201cMy wife and I go to the Alabama Theatre (a historic theatre in downtown Birmingham) and watch It\u2019s a Wonderful Life.\u201d<\/em> <\/strong>This will be hard for us to replicate in our town of 60. We\u2019ll settle for our annual Black Friday viewing of Elf<\/em>.<\/p>\n

6. \u201cWe let our kids open one gift on Christmas eve. It\u2019s always pajamas. After they put them on, they gather around, and I read the Christmas account from Luke. Then it\u2019s off to bed for them, and quiet and coffee for wifey and me.\u201d<\/strong> Are we twins?! We do the same thing, minus the quietness and coffee. We\u2019re usually tip-toeing around, trying to remember where we hid all the presents.<\/p>\n

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7. \u201cChristmas Eve and takeout Chinese.\u201d <\/strong>We opt for tacos after our Christmas Eve service and it’s glorious.<\/p>\n

8. \u201cWatching the A Christmas Story<\/em> marathon.\u201d<\/strong> Beats the Hallmark Channel, I guess.<\/p>\n

9. \u201cTelling small children Santa doesn\u2019t exist. <\/strong>Their parents love it. Great fun. Much recommended.\u201d <\/strong>Speaking of #3 (Airing of Grievances), may I add this guy?<\/p>\n

10. \u201cTraveling…\u201d<\/strong> This began many of the replies, and it\u2019s one of our traditions as well. Since I preach on Christmas Eve and have young kids, we don\u2019t usually make the nine-hour trek to see family until the 26th. With an ailing father, I treasure every second with him and aim to make the most of it.<\/p>\n

And here is where I\u2019m supposed to say something along the lines of \u201cremembering the reason for the season,\u201d but I’m pretty sure you get that.<\/p>\n

I do want to take this opportunity to stress the importance of hitting the pause button, sitting back, and simply enjoying all the moments with your precious family.<\/p>\n

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Matt Henslee<\/h2>\n

@mhenslee<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Matt and his wife Rebecca have four daughters. He is the Associational Mission Strategist for the Collin Baptist Association in Texas, and coauthor of Replanting Rural Churches<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n