One thing I am really thankful to my Mother for is that she instilled and fostered in us a love for tradition especially in family-life. At birthdays, Easter, Advent and Christmas, Mum created such beauty and fun to mark and celebrate these events. As we grew, we also grew to anticipate what lay ahead on these special days, and it created a great sense of joy, meaning, security, belonging and lots of happy memories. It also taught us to appreciate that such events were set apart from usual, and therefore had a special significance for us to think about.

The Advent season and Christmas was most definitely the highlight for me. Advent means “coming” and refers to the coming of Jesus as a baby in a manger as predicted by the Old Testament prophets, as well as His future coming on the clouds in glory, as predicted in the Book of Revelation. It is something celebrated in Germany (where my Dad is from) as well as in liturgical churches (which I grew up in).

In Germany, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas mark the Advent season. Each time, another candle is lit within a beautiful wreath signifying the progression towards Christmas. For Christians it is a time of joy and of looking forward. It is also a time of examining our hearts, and making a place for Him.

As I say, it’s celebrated in this very romantic and beautiful way in German homes. With a decorated wreath, with lit candles, with music, with family and friends, and with the most gorgeous German Christmas baking – stollen (a rich, fruity kind of bread filled with marzipan); lebkuchen (a soft, spicy kind of gingerbread); pfeffernusse (small spicy biscuits rolled in sugar) and cinnamon stars to mention a few.

I listened to this great interview with Mrs Noël Piper who has written a book called Treasuring God In Our Traditions. In this interview, Mrs Piper talked about the way we see tradition as being biblically significant. In Exodus for example, God instructs the Israelites about how to celebrate Passover, and He does this with the assumption that the children will ask why. God also provides the answer to this question to pass on both with words and activities.

This, Mrs Piper says, provides us with a good pattern for thinking about what our traditions should do (especially as it relates to Christmas). Words, visuals, activities all expressing that God and His Son, Jesus, are at the heart of this celebration.

Maybe you have your own personal and family traditions for Christmas. I hope these bring you and your loved ones a lot of joy and meaning this season, and ultimately that they focus hearts and minds on the true reason for this time, the birth of our beautiful Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Please see post below for today’s Christmas song – O Little Town Of Bethlelem sung by Sarah McLachlan.

~ by Birgit on December 23, 2007.

Posted in Biblical Womanhood, Christianity, Christmas, Devotional, Drawing Close to Jesus, Jesus, Journal, Marriage and Relationships