I’m a big fan of traditions, especially during the Christmas season. There’s a sense of familiarity every year when we take time to carry on the traditions we love. Here are some of my favorites:

• Setting up our Christmas tree (before Thanksgiving)
• Ornaments given to each person on Thanksgiving (started by my Grandma)
• Hot cocoa on snow days (harder to keep up with since we moved to Pennsylvania)
• We get family pictures every winter and send out Christmas cards. It’s a way for us to stay connected to all of our loved ones all over the country.
• For Christmas gifts, our kids fill out a simple wish list – something they want, something they need, something they’ll wear, something they’ll read, and something they’d really love.
• Starting on December 1st, as a countdown to December 25th, we open one Christmas book each night and read it together. We also read one chapter of the Jesus Storybook Bible and hang up a corresponding ornament.
• Making fudge with my Mom (my Great-Grandma’s recipe)
• Celebrating with our church
• Our kids each get to open one gift on Christmas Eve (new pajamas)
• Jon and I open our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed
• Cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning (started by my Stepmom)
• Coffee before presents (started by my Dad)
• The kids take turns opening gifts on Christmas, youngest to oldest, one at a time, so everyone can see what they receive (started by Jon’s parents)
• We have a Christmas Memories book that we received from Jon’s parents as a wedding gift. Every December, we write about our Christmas celebrations and the past year, and add a new family picture.

These are just some of the traditions we continue because we love and enjoy them.

But what about the traditions we don’t love? Or the ones we simply cannot do anymore?

Some favorite traditions from my childhood that I miss…

• Fighting with my sisters over who gets to move the mouse on my Mom’s 1987 Avon Advent Calendar (a HUGE thank you to Kim Menne for gifting me her calendar! One of the best gifts ever!)
• Shaking wrapped presents with my younger sister to try to guess what was in them (while my mom was at work)
• Going to my Dad’s house, my Grandma & Grandpa’s, and my Mom’s house, visiting all of my family in one day. It was busy, but I loved seeing everyone.
• My Grandpa let me be his “elf” and help pass out gifts. Eventually my kids got to be his helper. (He also paid me to wrap my Grandma’s presents so he didn’t have to!)
• Our annual “Ries Family Christmas” at Izzy’s Pizza & Pasta with the fun gift exchange. It was always memorable getting everyone on my Dad’s side of the family together.
• Spending the night at my Dad’s on Christmas Eve. We would get McDonald’s and drive around and look at Christmas lights, then watch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” together.

Christmastime can be bittersweet when beloved traditions are no longer our reality. Sickness and death, cross-country moves, starting families of our own that need their separate or modified traditions… there are plenty of factors that can create difficult situations.

A couple months ago this quote from Susie Davis jumped off the page at me: “I want you to be free. Free to join the traditions, free to break from the traditions. Just free to spend your time and money and energy doing what it is God leads you to in your one beautiful life.”

Since the holiday season is in full swing, this quote has been on my mind.

We are free.

Are we living free? Are we following God’s lead?

Or are we trying to uphold the traditions of others? Are we carrying around loads of expectations that were never meant to burden us?

The truth is, we get to set our priorities. We get to choose how we’ll invest our time, talent and treasure. We get to decide what we’re intentional about.

Maybe it’s time to try on a new tradition, to see how it fits you and your family. Maybe you need to let go of a tradition that you’ve been gritting your teeth over in anxious preparation. Maybe it’s right for you to keep a tradition going that you love.

Whatever it is, I’m praying for you. That you would know in your head and your heart that God the Father is with you. In every tradition, in every hardship, in every season.

“The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.” – 2 Corinthians 13:14

His grace, His love, and His friendship. You are never alone. ❤️