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Yesterday I pulled out our Christmas decorations. It's early, I know; but we'll be gone for half a week at Thanksgiving, and we'll be gone for the last two weeks of December too, so setting up for Christmas now will just give us one month with Christmas in our house.

Plus, Jack was away at a TESOL conference, I was bored stiff, and the weather turned from gorgeous to cold and grey. I was in need of twinkly lights.

We don't have a lot in the way of Christmas decorations. This is the first year in our four years of marriage that we have both a child and a house of our own, so it's the first year that I've really put any thought into the Christmas traditions that I'd like to establish in our family.

Jack's mom gave me this book at my bridal shower (it was thoughtfully themed a "book shower" - some people know me so well). The book has been extremely helpful as I've been thinking through what traditions are, why we should have them, and how we should establish them. It has influenced me quite a bit in planning for our own Peterson family traditions....which I'll share with you in another post someday soon :-)

And when your children say to you, "What do you mean by this service?" you shall say, "It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt" (Exodus 12:26-27). Moses assumes children will ask why. And he instructs parents to give an answer that speaks of reality.

...

Year after year the traditions were there, a shadow of our God who is rock-steady and dependable year after year after year. When God created seasons and memories and celebrations -- traditions -- he knew our need for security. And he knew that even paltry red Jello year after year can provide enough steadiness to keep us going until we find our only real security in him.

But how much more of God is there to find when we are on the lookout, when we shape our "everyday" and "especially" around him. God will show himself in special and new ways when we celebrate him.