Yesterday, I quickly gave the ‘why’ behind the importance of some of our family traditions.  Today, I’d like to chat about how we implement Christ-honouring traditions and what they may look like practically.  I’d also love to hear from you – what does your family do?  How do you feel about these ideas?  If you were to begin one new tradition in your family this year, what might it be and why is that important to you?

I feel like the concept of traditions is often a little misconstrued by society.  The ideas of ‘big’ and ‘fanfare’ seem to be commonplace, yet the seemingly small and less spectacular can be just as valuable.  Which leads me to a critical point: 

Family traditions don’t need to be aesthetically pleasing, 

craftfully documented, nor shared with the world.  

You don’t need to capture these moments in picture-perfect ways, posting them to social media, and counting the ‘likes’ received on your posts.  Your family traditions are about your family, no-one else.  They are not tasks completed to gain the attention or admiration of others.  Family traditions are not a competition.  If that kind of pressure is holding you back from doing something special for/with your family, here is your permission slip (not that you need one!) to let go of those notions and to embrace what’s special to you.

I’ve pondered what traditions my own family has had, which have reflected our Christian values, and here’s a few.  Yours might be similar, or entirely different, and that’s okay!

• Saying ‘Grace’ at mealtimes
• Bedtime prayers
• My parents reading the Bible aloud to us as children
• Listening to Bible stories on cassette as we fell asleep at night
• Attending church together and being taken to Sunday School and Youth (may I add, without pressure – we weren’t forced to go, which I feel is important as I feel that obligation doesn’t produce faith but rather religious duty)
• Welcoming others into our home, to practise hospitality, just like Jesus
• Listening to praise and worship music and sermons on car trips
• Reading Christian novels and biographies, or being gifted them for special occasions
• Singing carols at Christmas
• Caring for the elderly through acts of service and compassion
• Hosting ministers in our home
• Watching Christian television shows and movies together
• Discussions around Godly character and how we might live it out in our own lives
• Being placed amongst role models (others who loved Jesus that we could learn from)
• Inviting others to join us for Christmas dinner, all bringing our leftovers and having a picnic at a local park (intentionally inviting those who might be feeling a little lonely at that time of year – those who don’t have family nearby etc)
• And also things which might not seem overtly Christ-focused, but which demonstrated His love and character to us… For example, my Mum baking us afternoon tea for when we got home from school, or my Dad picking us up from High School so we didn’t have to lug home heavy bags full of textbooks, or us helping someone moving house.

A toddler calls… time for me to wind up today… and go show him some Godly love by spending some quality time with him.

Scripture references: The Holy Bible (several translations)

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