Hey Everyone,
As a single person, do you do much decorating, baking, or preparation for the holidays?
Are there any traditions you love that you keep every year?
I used to love the holidays but a Series of Unfortunate Events kind of curbed my enthusiasm for many years. Last year was the first time I'd put out any decorations in a very long time. I had a set of chairs by my kitchen island that I draped in colorful, blinking lights (it was sort-of-a-tree but with less hassle) and I put a beloved colored glass Christmas ornament in the shape of Mickey Mouse on my lamp (I bought it on a special trip with my parents). Voila!! Beware the contagious holiday spirit!!
I have also been looking for a Nativity Scene that catches my eye--my Mom has a Precious Moments one that I just love but I'd like something a little different.
For many years, I also sent out as many as 60+ hand-written Christmas cards every year... because it's important to me to try to catch up on people's lives. (I think it's also a way of showing God's love to others... to let them know I'm thinking of them.) I'm going to have to cut back a bit this year because of time, but it's still something I love doing (though it takes several weeks.)
The most unique holiday tradition I've heard of in the past few years was from a Puerto Rican co-worker--she said that instead of setting out milk and cookies for Santa, her kids put out a tray of hay for the 3 Wise Men to feed their camels. I thought that was pretty neat!
How about you?
Do you go all out for Jesus's Birthday, or is your style more "Bah, Humbug!"?
As a single person, do you do much decorating, baking, or preparation for the holidays?
Are there any traditions you love that you keep every year?
I used to love the holidays but a Series of Unfortunate Events kind of curbed my enthusiasm for many years. Last year was the first time I'd put out any decorations in a very long time. I had a set of chairs by my kitchen island that I draped in colorful, blinking lights (it was sort-of-a-tree but with less hassle) and I put a beloved colored glass Christmas ornament in the shape of Mickey Mouse on my lamp (I bought it on a special trip with my parents). Voila!! Beware the contagious holiday spirit!!
I have also been looking for a Nativity Scene that catches my eye--my Mom has a Precious Moments one that I just love but I'd like something a little different.
For many years, I also sent out as many as 60+ hand-written Christmas cards every year... because it's important to me to try to catch up on people's lives. (I think it's also a way of showing God's love to others... to let them know I'm thinking of them.) I'm going to have to cut back a bit this year because of time, but it's still something I love doing (though it takes several weeks.)
The most unique holiday tradition I've heard of in the past few years was from a Puerto Rican co-worker--she said that instead of setting out milk and cookies for Santa, her kids put out a tray of hay for the 3 Wise Men to feed their camels. I thought that was pretty neat!
How about you?
Do you go all out for Jesus's Birthday, or is your style more "Bah, Humbug!"?
The local Christian radio station started playing Christmas music right after Thanksgiving so we'd have the radio on most times and sing along. We watched all the Christmas movies together like "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Scrooge" and "A Christmas Story". We went caroling at nursing homes. We made cookies & tarts & little loaves of bread for family & friends. We went sledding and played in the snow together with other families in the neighborhood. Also, there were plenty of Christmas light displays that we visited: the zoo, the mansion at one of the state parks, downtown, etc. Our kids played in the school orchestra so we went to all of their Christmas music performances. I could go on and on.
