So, our Holiday Season, started off like a country song. Our dog went missing. Thanksgiving Night in the cold, dark, streets of South Sacramento, while some of you were hitting up black Friday sales, we were searching for a little three-legged black dog. The next day, our planned Christmas tree hunting day, we skipped and instead went hunting for our dog, hitting up animal shelters, putting up signs, yelling in the streets. Good ol' fashioned Holiday fun!
We eventually made it out to find a Christmas Tree. We visited our usual spot and searched for the perfect tree to cut down. We searched and searched. The kids got dirty and collected stuff. Each kid got a chance to ride on Daddy's shoulders for a better view, I snapped pictures...you know the usual stuff. My Holiday traditions, maybe your holiday tradition, by the look of the line of cars driving out with a tree, a bunch of other's tradition. After searching for what felt like hours with kids who were more interested in the dirt and fallen branches than finding an actual tree, Steve and I looked at each other and I think the light bulb went off in both of our heads...What are we doing?
So we left.
No tree in tow.
No kids crying about it.
We got away from being tied to a tradition that really wasn't that important.
Later that night we regrouped and hit up a tree lot. One that did all the work for us. One that was lit up. One that forced you to snuggle and bundle up on a cold night. One that fit us. I don't think I've ever seen my kids this excited to pick a tree! It was magical for them, they ran around and chased each other. They each picked their favorite tree and in the end we went home with the prettiest tree we've ever had. Happy hearts, blurry pictures and a Christmas tree to start our season!
One thing I've come across when you become a mom, is that everyone wants to give you advice. The Holidays hold no exception. People will tell you the best place to get a tree, the best way to make Hot Chocolate, The types of gifts to get your kids (something they need, want, read...yada yada yada). Soon you start to think, "Maybe this is what I'm suppose to be doing."
I am so grateful that our Savior, our king was not born like a Traditional King. I'm so grateful that his story was much different from the world's and that his birth was out of love for us. This Holiday, I'm asking myself this, "Does it hold to a spirit of Love that God gave us when he gave us his son?" I don't want to hold so tightly to traditions that they overlook the beauty of the Season. A nontraditional birth deserves a little broken tradition, no? Don't be afraid to change those traditions, drop them, reassess them. So we're not chopping down a tree this year. I have yet to send out a Christmas card (It may not happen), and I returned that Elf on the Shelf, poor guy never even made it out of my car. Instead, we've made a mess painting ornaments (the aftermath has sat on my table for the last few days), we've cuddled and watched Polar express a hundred times, we've turned on our Nutcracker CD and danced around outdoing each others 'Ballet' moves. We are ushering in that Spirit of Love and not tradition.
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