Aunt Shirley

My husband's aunt died last weekend. The memorial service was last Saturday. This is my favorite picture of her because it captures her personality.

Here are some of my thoughts from the weekend.

It is a great comfort to Christians to know that a loved one is with the Lord. Most of my extended family is not walking with the Lord and I do not have that comfort for them. I pray the Lord will touch them and open their eyes.

I was also just blessed by my family. All of my boys participated in some way. And they blessed many. It is such a blessing to see them grow!

I was also just blessed by my in-laws. It is amazing the sacrifices they made for Aunt Shirley. I pray the Lord will richly bless them for all that they did for her. I'm sure there will be plenty of jewels in their crowns.

Finally, I just kept thinking about how we wait to say what we really think until it's many times too late. I hope to do better. But only by the Lord's strength. I'm not good with words even though I FEEL very deeply.

Pictures from our 1st Tea

Pictures from our first tea. First picture is all of the ladies in attendance. Second picture of me and K.

Traditions

This year the ladies of our clan are beginning a new tradition--an annual Christmas Tea. Our tea will be in a couple of days at my house and I'm busily preparing for everyone to come and enjoy a relaxing time. I so love having everyone over! It is one of my greatest joys in life.

And as I've been physically preparing my home, I've been thinking on the idea of traditions. Why are they so meaningful and when did the idea of traditions start?

I think if we look back to the Bible we can definitely see the traditions that God instituted during the time of Moses (i.e. the feasts and festivals, as well as the oral tradition and the rituals of the Levitical priests, etc.)

But upon further reflection, I think the idea of traditions started when man did--at the beginning. You see, Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). It was their practice to meet with God--to fellowship with Him and to learn from Him.

And when I think of this new tradition that is exactly what I hope for my dd, K--that she would cherish this tradition as a time to fellowship with the wonderful godly women of our family and to learn from them.

For me traditions, bring comfort, security, and identity. They hold a special place in my heart as all that was good in my childhood. We had many traditions in my family at Christmas--hanging up our favorite ornaments from year to year, then hanging icicles on all of the branches making sure that you put just the right amount on each branch. We made Christmas cutout cookies every year. And on Christmas Eve, we always had one present to open. You guessed it--Jammies! Grandma always gave us a new ornament for our tree every year and I still use most of them for my tree today.

Christmas Day was all about the food and being with family. Grandma was the best cook in town and she even let my cousin and I help set the table and put garnish on the food. Then after dinner my cousins, my brother and I would put together a Christmas play using our favorite gifts from that Christmas.

My children have many of these same traditions and some new ones from their Daddy's side of the family and others that we've incorporated over the years. As a funny aside, this year I asked the boys if we could change a few things. They were shocked that I would even mention it and told me in no uncertain terms that they'll have the traditions like they are--thank you very much!

I pray that the traditions that we have as a family will give them a sense of family identity and truly fond memories of our family. And as they grow up and leave the nest, they will have a strong sense of identity that will carry them through the seasons of their lives.