I broke a Christmas tradition so Christmas is ruined...not really
Does your family have Christmas traditions? You know the things you do the same way every year or a place you always have to go? It may be the way you exchange gifts or a place you go look at Christmas lights. It may be a recipe that you family makes, a song you always sing or a movie you have to watch. There are a lot of Christmas traditions out there. Some are unique and others are common among many families. Do you know where and why your family's Christmas traditions started? Sometimes those stories are as good as the tradition itself. The hows and whys of some Christmas traditions are great mysteries. Nobody knows why they have to do it every year or how long they have done it they just know they do it.
What happens when the Christmas traditions get broken or stopped? Can Christmas still go on? Will it start a new tradition? Will it be a temporary stop in the tradition? Will anyone notice the tradition has stopped? Those are real questions for many families each year as things change and people change. Life happens, death happens and changes happen no matter how much we don't want them to happen. So every Christmas some where a Christmas tradition changes or stops. It is not always a bad thing because sometimes it opens the door to a new tradition or the changes make the tradition even better.
I have been married into my wife's family for over 22 years. Our dating/engagement period was over 2 1/2 years so all total I have been a part of my wife's family for close to 25 years. Her family had a tradition. Yes, I said had because I am about to confess to something her family doesn't know. Lisa's grandmother made this cookie dough that the whole family loves and she made it every Christmas. Lisa's mother has continued that tradition. That's not my confession. You see, the family likes the cookie dough so much they always eat the cookie dough and never baked any cookies with it. Every year I wondered what the cookies would taste like if they actually baked some. I asked each time the dough was made if we were going to bake any cookies and you would have though I had suggested burning the house down. So I just about gave up on tasting the cookies until yesterday.
As with many families this is a busy time of year for us. When you add Christmas activities to a already busy schedule it is overwhelming at times especially if everyone n the family doesn't pitch in to help. That was what I was doing Tuesday afternoon. My daughter has a party tonight at dance and everyone is supposed to bring cookies. We knew we would not have time to bake cookies today and we had a lot of things to do on Tuesday so it was going to be hard for Lisa to add baking cookies to her list. So being the great husband I am, I offered to bake them for her. So after I put my first batch in the oven I remembered the cookie dough in the freezer. I kept debating if I should or if I shouldn't. After I took my 2nd batch out of the oven I decided I should. So I pinched off 6 chucks of the dough, rolled them into a ball, flattened them and baked them.
The next 15 minutes was filled with all kinds of emotions. I was excited to finally get to taste the cookies. I was nervous the world would end when I pulled them out of the oven. I was hungry because I had been smelling cookies for the last 30 minutes. I was scared my wife would hurt me for baking the cookies. Finally, it was time to take them out of the oven. I watched them as I let them cool. These cookies took 25 years to get baked. My hands were sweaty. My daughter was all ready fussing at me for baking them. At this point I didn't care I had to taste them. I picked up my first cookie and took a huge bite. Oh, it was so good. I crammed the rest of the cookie in my mouth and enjoyed every chew. Even when my wife came home and begin to tell me what a bad thing I had
done I didn't care because the cookie was that good.
So today the question is, "Will Christmas still happen since I baked cookies out of the unbakeable cookie dough?" The answer is of course, yes. Family traditions are a part of Christmas but they are not Christmas. I have heard so many people lately tell me what "Christmas is all about" and they have all been wrong. What they described was not what Christmas is about but what is a part of or a result of Christmas. I heard a radio DJ say Christmas was all about families getting together. That is a great part of Christmas but not every family will be together. Those in the military, law enforcement, the medical field, retail workers, missionaries, emergency services and other careers that will work Christmas will not be with their families yet Christmas will still happen. I saw a commercial that said Christmas was about getting that perfect gift for the one you love. I know my wife loves me and I also know she will not be getting me a Corvette or a X-Box One but Christmas will still happen. I heard a guy in a store say Christmas is about seeing smiles on children's faces. Not all children will be smiling. There are children in hospitals, who just lost their parents, will still be hungry and in lots of bad situations that will not be smiling but Christmas still will happen.
What is Christmas about? Even though there is a pretty good chance Jesus was not born on December 25th it is the day we set aside to celebrate His birth so that is what Christmas is about. It is a time to remember that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to die on a cross, to lay in a tomb and to rise again so that all who believe on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, Clark, Raphie, Cindy Lou and Tiny Tim don't make Christmas. Walmart, Target, the mall, Best Buy, and Amazon don't sale Christmas. Christmas is a gift from God that was born in a stable and wrapped in swaddling clothes. You don't need Christmas spirit to enjoy Christmas you just need Jesus. What's better than receiving a membership to the bacon of the month
club? Receiving Jesus. This Christmas enjoy the traditions of Christmas, enjoy your family, enjoy both the giving and receiving of gifts, enjoy watching Christmas movies and hearing Christmas music but remember that isn't what Christmas is about. It is about celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Parting Thought: People go on vacation to forget things. As soon as the open their suitcase they realize they did.
What happens when the Christmas traditions get broken or stopped? Can Christmas still go on? Will it start a new tradition? Will it be a temporary stop in the tradition? Will anyone notice the tradition has stopped? Those are real questions for many families each year as things change and people change. Life happens, death happens and changes happen no matter how much we don't want them to happen. So every Christmas some where a Christmas tradition changes or stops. It is not always a bad thing because sometimes it opens the door to a new tradition or the changes make the tradition even better.
I have been married into my wife's family for over 22 years. Our dating/engagement period was over 2 1/2 years so all total I have been a part of my wife's family for close to 25 years. Her family had a tradition. Yes, I said had because I am about to confess to something her family doesn't know. Lisa's grandmother made this cookie dough that the whole family loves and she made it every Christmas. Lisa's mother has continued that tradition. That's not my confession. You see, the family likes the cookie dough so much they always eat the cookie dough and never baked any cookies with it. Every year I wondered what the cookies would taste like if they actually baked some. I asked each time the dough was made if we were going to bake any cookies and you would have though I had suggested burning the house down. So I just about gave up on tasting the cookies until yesterday.
As with many families this is a busy time of year for us. When you add Christmas activities to a already busy schedule it is overwhelming at times especially if everyone n the family doesn't pitch in to help. That was what I was doing Tuesday afternoon. My daughter has a party tonight at dance and everyone is supposed to bring cookies. We knew we would not have time to bake cookies today and we had a lot of things to do on Tuesday so it was going to be hard for Lisa to add baking cookies to her list. So being the great husband I am, I offered to bake them for her. So after I put my first batch in the oven I remembered the cookie dough in the freezer. I kept debating if I should or if I shouldn't. After I took my 2nd batch out of the oven I decided I should. So I pinched off 6 chucks of the dough, rolled them into a ball, flattened them and baked them.
The next 15 minutes was filled with all kinds of emotions. I was excited to finally get to taste the cookies. I was nervous the world would end when I pulled them out of the oven. I was hungry because I had been smelling cookies for the last 30 minutes. I was scared my wife would hurt me for baking the cookies. Finally, it was time to take them out of the oven. I watched them as I let them cool. These cookies took 25 years to get baked. My hands were sweaty. My daughter was all ready fussing at me for baking them. At this point I didn't care I had to taste them. I picked up my first cookie and took a huge bite. Oh, it was so good. I crammed the rest of the cookie in my mouth and enjoyed every chew. Even when my wife came home and begin to tell me what a bad thing I had
So today the question is, "Will Christmas still happen since I baked cookies out of the unbakeable cookie dough?" The answer is of course, yes. Family traditions are a part of Christmas but they are not Christmas. I have heard so many people lately tell me what "Christmas is all about" and they have all been wrong. What they described was not what Christmas is about but what is a part of or a result of Christmas. I heard a radio DJ say Christmas was all about families getting together. That is a great part of Christmas but not every family will be together. Those in the military, law enforcement, the medical field, retail workers, missionaries, emergency services and other careers that will work Christmas will not be with their families yet Christmas will still happen. I saw a commercial that said Christmas was about getting that perfect gift for the one you love. I know my wife loves me and I also know she will not be getting me a Corvette or a X-Box One but Christmas will still happen. I heard a guy in a store say Christmas is about seeing smiles on children's faces. Not all children will be smiling. There are children in hospitals, who just lost their parents, will still be hungry and in lots of bad situations that will not be smiling but Christmas still will happen.
What is Christmas about? Even though there is a pretty good chance Jesus was not born on December 25th it is the day we set aside to celebrate His birth so that is what Christmas is about. It is a time to remember that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to die on a cross, to lay in a tomb and to rise again so that all who believe on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, Clark, Raphie, Cindy Lou and Tiny Tim don't make Christmas. Walmart, Target, the mall, Best Buy, and Amazon don't sale Christmas. Christmas is a gift from God that was born in a stable and wrapped in swaddling clothes. You don't need Christmas spirit to enjoy Christmas you just need Jesus. What's better than receiving a membership to the bacon of the month
Parting Thought: People go on vacation to forget things. As soon as the open their suitcase they realize they did.
Thank you, Ashley. Loved the story you used to help demonstrate what Christmas really is all about.
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Thank you! By the way, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Kwanzaa!