The Year We Tossed Traditions!

Well, some of them.  It all started with the decision to put the Christmas tree up earlier this year (see prior post).  The freedom that arrived with that idea gave birth to courage to change up other traditions. 

At Thanksgiving,after a family vote, we tossed the turkey in favor of ham. 

This Christmas, we cut back on the amount we spent on each other and used that extra cash to give even more to our favorite Christmas causes- Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree, gift collections, and even adopted students for a teacher friend’s Christmas book project.  Such Fun!

We opted to not send cards this year.  It feels a little weird, but the breathing room has been amazing!

 

We tossed our annual gingerbread house contest.  We’ve opted instead for a new Hagertyville Grinch Night.  Grinch Themed Dinner, Watching The Grinch, Grinch Games and a Random Act of Kindness for our community.  We could all be a little more like Cindy Lou Who and be more intentional in loving the unlovely. 

We’re not hosting events and we’re not attending all events.  That alone has graced us with so much unrushed time. 

The cutting back on all the extras that we thought made the holidays so special has actually helped us to enjoy what truly makes the holidays special.  Time to just be.  Time to be together.  Time to be in the Word.  Time to breathe.  I actually feel like we are more in the Christmas Spirit without all the extras and  I hope we never catch Christmas fever again.

One thing we are still looking forward to is our family Christmas Eve traditions.   We enjoy attending worship on Christmas Eve.  After worship, we ride around looking at lights and singing carols.  Once we are home, we enjoy a crab leg dinner (the one time a year we serve crab legs) and follow that up with a special family talent show.  Once everyone has poured out the offering of their gifts, we read Luke 2 together. The kids all open new pajamas (we don’t do Christmasy ones because we are way too practical for that) Then all the Hagerty kids “sleep” in one room.  I love this part.  They are now 16, 16, 18, & 21- but they will watch movies and giggle like little kids for awhile. 

Then once Tom arrives home on Christmas morning (First Responder Life) we celebrate the birth of Jesus with our traditional Red Velvet Cake (they refuse to let me toss the cake) and open presents. 

With two going in the military in 2019, this is probably our last Christmas all together for a while.  We’ve always made room for Jesus and I’m thankful we finally found room for us this year.