Traditions

Over the years we have created, participated in, and eliminated several Christmas traditions. To kick off the season at our house we engaged in my all time favorite tradition, decorating for the holidays--making the house more festive, shall we say. On yesterday, my husband pulled out the Christmas decorations and began decorating the front yard. Later, we got the girls together and we all decorated the tree while listening to holiday music. It was wonderful to watch my husband and the girls pull out the ornaments and remember past Christmases. It was especially funny to see our 5-yr old place all of her ornaments in the same concentrated area of the tree. Here's our finished product, not fancy, but special to us and done with lots of love.

 Without a doubt, this is my favorite time of year, it always has been for as long as I can remember. I just love the anticipation of Christmas. No, not because of gifts, though I do like giving and receiving gifts, but because I just have this feeling within that something bigger, something extraordinary is on the way. I love being reminded of the story of Jesus' birth and how humbly he entered the world. But then when you think about it, his entire life on earth was just that, humble--beginning, middle, and end. It is amazing how much he loves us.