Weeding out Christmas traditions

Monday I was visiting someone’s blog and they were asking about family traditions in regards to Christmas. I answered quickly and then moved on, but as days have gone by I’ve given that question more thought, not just what we do for Christmas, but why we do it. Is it done because it’s good or just something we’ve always done; a miser of a chore that no one likes but does anyway.

Some of you might not know this, but we are a homeschooling family, so as you can imagine there are plenty of those things to weed away, but also plenty to give more time to. Like gift making; in the past that was something only I did and only if I got around to it. This year I’ve cut out the Christmas cards (sorry Aunt Jen, I promise you’ll love the homemade jam instead)  that take so much time to make and decided spend more time with the kids making presents  so they’ll understand Christmas isn’t just about their own wants.  And strangely the Christmas tradition I’m cutting out most is shopping. I used to spend hours and hours searching in stores and in the end I’d give up in frustration and grab from the rubble left on the shelves. Not that we’re giving up giving gifts, I’ve just discovered the amazing power of the internet.  In ten minutes I was done and had just what I wanted, for just who I wanted it for.

One thing we’ll never change is what Christmas really is and in the end this weeding out gives us more time for that; the preparing for the coming of a King.