Great Commission Churches

November 2011

Dear Sisters,

For a brief time this fall we thought we had our house sold and that we would be moving  before the Christmas holidays. While supporting our desire to move, our grown children all  seemed reluctant to miss one last Christmas "at home." We've experienced so many holiday traditions and memories in this house.

Yet traditions can live and be passed on as we change and grow, and as our children grow and leave our homes. I asked some pastors' wives to share with us those special traditions they enjoyed with their families over the years. I pray these bring a blessing to your homes this holiday season!

Thanking God for you,

Sandy Hopler 

What are some Christmas traditions that have built your family in Christ over the years? 

Our Christmas tradition is both fun and serious at the same time.  Christmas  Eve is devoted to Christ and the Christmas story.  We have a large ceramic  manger scene that we put up high on a shelf.  We then turn off all the lights, except for a flashlight for Berk, who reads the Christmas story.  One of the kids  gets another flashlight, and shines the light on whatever figure(s) are being read about at that time.  However, before the story is even read, as in earlier in the day, this person has collected other things throughout the house that can be"stand-ins" for a character in the Christmas story.  For instance, last year Herod looked a lot like Jack Bauer on the back of the "24" video.  We also sing  appropriate Christmas songs that coincide with where we are in the story - always ending with "Go Tell It on the Mountain," which is Berk's favorite. 

 -Barbara Wilson

In the spirit of Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many," we have come  up with a couple of Bowen Christmas traditions that we do each year. We deliver plates brimming with homemade Christmas cookies and candies for empty-nest neighbors to enjoy with their loved ones. These gifts, along with other acts of service sprinkled throughout the year, have made a way for us into the lives of our neighbors.

The more recent Christmas tradition we have added comes after the first Christmas Eve service at church. The children and I return home to ready an appetizer dinner to be enjoyed by the family when Mark gets home from the final Christmas Eve service.

--Judi Bowen

Our children had a large collection of Lego's so we often built things that had to  do with the holiday. One year it was a Lego Mayflower.  We then were able to recreate the story of the Pilgrims. Most years, we built a stable for Christmas. In the beginning we just used Duplo Lego's, but as the years progressed the stables became more complex. Then we would read or tell the Christmas story.  Eventually we purchased small figures of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus although we could have constructed those too.

--Virginia Biang

With a big family we cannot afford to give expensive gifts, so the emphasis is on being together and enjoying the season together. The Nativity scene is a focus of our decorations.We often shared our Christmas day with others outside of our own physical family.  As you can imagine, the people who don't have a place to spend Christmas tend to be those who are a bit needy, such as single moms, soldiers, and international students. We always have big meals and we always have all of our meals at one table-- even if the table is 35 feet long and snakes around a couple of rooms!

Getting ready for Faithwalkers is now part of our holiday traditions. Rick's PowerPoint for his teaching has been a family team project at that time. And then we go for some kind of long, crazy hike--grandparents, little babies, whether it's snowing or just cold. We walk.

-Neva Whitney

One Christmas tradition that I especially enjoyed when our children were small  was something I would do when Dennis had to be gone for the evening. We would turn off all the lights and sit near the lighted Christmas tree. After singing a few carols, we would talk about all the ways our decorated tree could be a visual reminder to us of God and His goodness to us. Some ideas were, the tree: God's creation; decorations: reminders of God's beautiful blessings; tinsel: the glories of heaven awaiting us.

A second tradition is our "Gifts to God." We begin individually thinking and praying about what the Lord is putting on our heart to 'give Him' as the holiday approaches. Each one writes his gift on a card and puts it in our gift box along with the others. One of the last things we do together around the tree on Christmas Eve is to open the box, handing out the cards, reading them aloud one by one.

-Thelma Clark

It warms my heart every time I think of our tradition to put up our tree REALLY early! Yes, it is usually the beginning of November-but at times has been the later part of October. We do this because December always seems so busy with not much family time to just sit back and talk about life. In a world of hustle and bustle, we feel very at rest in our living room with the gentle lights of the tree, fireplace and a warm cup of cocoa or cider and sharing our lives with one another. I will never forget these times!

 -Cindy Sokoll 

What stands out so much in my mind regarding Christmas and tradition is family. We begin our Christmas celebration the day after Thanksgiving. It has become a tradition that the whole family comes together that Friday, heads to the Christmas tree farm and cuts down the perfect tree. We then haul our trees back to our houses and begin the decorations.

-Kathleen Williams

Christmas Eve has meant attending our church's evening service, where we celebrate and remember the BEST Christmas gift- Jesus. After the service, we head home for eggnog, Christmas cookies, and caroling. Since we are a family of musicians, we gather around the tree (with a crackling fire in the fireplace) and sing carols accompanied by our many instruments...definitely a Norman Rockwell moment.

-Dawn Bovenmyer

My family had a lot of Christmas traditions growing up, and I've chosen to continue them in our family. One thing we've done is read special stories by candlelight over the Christmas season. This came from my parents' tradition of reading together during Advent.  It didn't happen every night, but when the kids were younger, we would buy anthologies of Christian Christmas storiesand read them together at bedtime. We also would read the Christmas story from Luke. These stories helped focus us on meaningful things at Christmas, and gave us a special family time.

There have always been lots of service opportunities during the Christmas season, and we've done Christmas shoe-boxes together with grandparents, and also delivered gifts to families in need in our own area. These things have been very meaningful to our family over the years. Building traditions has really helped us focus on Christ and others, while giving us meaningful family time that has bonded us together.

 -Karen Haring

Our family loves to eat together, and we always ate Chinese food on Christmas Eve after the services (where we served as a whole family), or before the midnight service (when we had one). Giving the gift of the Faithwalkers conference to our kids has become a tradition. I design a "coupon," wrap it, and put it under the tree.

 -Louise Martin

Every year we carefully unpack our nativity scene and place it in a central location of the house along with our other Christmas decor that recognizes Jesus as the coming king like "Wise men still seek Him."  When the kids were young we would read the account of Jesus coming to the world from the gospels and let them act out the story simultaneously with the figurines.  It was fun and lively! And when people come to our house, they see what our Christmas means to us.

 Our traditions have grown in the last four years to include "The Outsider Christmas: Away in a Manger!" This is Open Range Fellowship's primary outreach each year to the community and our whole family participates in this drama with a live nativity scene with live animals. I suppose I would say that our tradition is to make the most of every opportunity at hand in seeing other people come to know Jesus Christ!

-Terry Putthoff