On Sunday mornings when I was a girl, our family ate pastry for breakfast. Then, before heading to church, my brothers and I lined up for a pack of peppermints and a roll of salted licorice from our dad. While our Sunday morning rituals weren’t intended to prepare our hearts for worship, they were reminders that Sunday was special, and we connected them with going to church.We’ve created traditions and rituals with our kids too: eating a “Beat the Winter Blues” dinner in our shorts in February, opening birthday gifts while being served breakfast in bed, taking a family photo in a pumpkin patch every Thanksgiving, and never leaving the house without saying “Bye, I love you!” These repeated events make memories and draw us closer together as a family.
Family traditions can also provide ways to help our kids connect with God and to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness. Some—like adding Jesus to the nativity scene on Christmas Day, lighting a candle on baptism anniversaries, joining hands in prayer around the table on Easter—will be connected to faith milestones and Christian celebrations. Others, like praying before a meal, playing music that glorifies God as you prepare for church, or reading a Bible story at bedtime, flow naturally out of the simple patterns of everyday life.
The best way to create these special times is to look for ways to acknowledge God in both in the special celebrations and the daily details of your family’s life. Before you know it, you’ve begun a tradition—and your kids will be the first to complain if you try to change it!
What are some of the traditions in your household? What do they mean to your family?
--An excerpt from chapter 4 of the Home Grown Handbook for Christian Parenting by Karen De Boer. © Faith Alive, 2010. Used with permission.
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