When you think of what defines Christmas, what do you think of?
Is it the smell of evergreen? Mittens, scarves and snow? Or maybe a turkey roasting in the oven all day, filling the house with delightful smells and warmth?
The Christmas season for our family has always involved a myriad of traditions, from the annual early morning Christmas shopping on the morning after Thanksgiving, to hunting for the perfect tree out in the hills of Oregon, to assembling gingerbread houses, and eventually selecting the perfect ornament for each of the kids for the year.
It also meant being chilled in the morning, wearing long sleeved sweaters, and baking all day.
Now that we are living south of the equator, it means all kinds of new things. Now it means planning a fun, but light Christmas meal.. swimming in the afternoon to cool off...buying small but more meaningful gifts...planning our once a year vacation..and sweating :). We still try to keep some of our old traditions, but Christmas looks much different now.
One of the new traditions we have now is a church service on Christmas morning - 9 am sharp.
This changes alot of the old traditions we had - the special early morning baked french toast after an even earlier morning of unwrapping presents...the lounging in p.j.s until late in the morning..playing with the kids on the floor amidst the wrapping paper and bows.... Now we open presents Christmas eve (some days I really miss the Christmas eve service at Harvest!), then up early in the morning on Christmas day to dress and go to church. After this, we hurry home to have a light lunch, and prepare the Christmas dinner.
It's different...but not bad.
The true meaning of Christmas, at least is not lost. Back home, it was a battle to keep the commercial Christmas from invading the importance of the holiday. It seemed to take extra effort and focus. Now, with the lesser focus on the gifts, and more focus on why we celebrate Christmas in the first place, the results are much more meaningful.
Of course, there are the moments when I miss the sounds of Bing Crosby crooning "White Christmas" and the all day baking sprees with my sister..but I guess that the new memories and traditions we are building now will one day be as warm and fuzzy feeling as the ones from the years gone by. It will just take some time.
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