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"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be registered."
(Luke 2:1, ESV)
Happy Christmas Eve!
Growing up in the Forshee home, I loved Christmas time! That is not a very surprising statement, but I loved Christmas time because we never had Christmas on Christmas day; we would always have it early! We would always have Christmas early because we would be traveling somewhere, or we would have church on Christmas, or some other reason. As a young boy, I did not care what the reason was, I just knew we got presents early. In the Forshee home, the night before we did all the presents, we did "Christmas Eve" presents. This looked like the three kids giving each other gifts, giving our parents gifts, and getting the all-important Christmas pajamas.
Before we could get to gift-giving and present-unwrapping, there is always, even to this day, one thing my Dad would lead us in: the reading of the Messiah's birth from Luke 2. With the reading of Luke 2 every year, we three kids started to know the story well, so my dad would leave intentional blanks for us to fill in the words and get even more into the story.
I absolutely LOVE this tradition, and Kyndall and I have started doing it in our own home. Another common denominator in the reading of Luke 2 was my dad getting teary-eyed during the reading of the story. When I was younger, I always thought to myself, "Wow! This means a lot to him!" and growing up, that is still the same! Being older now, I realize that I love the tradition of reading Luke 2 for a couple reasons, one of which is the memories associated with the reading: the memories of different homes we lived in growing up, but the same people that were always in the home: family. The reading of Luke 2 reminds me that family is so important. The second reason I love this tradition is for the reprioritization that it always brings for me about Christmas. Christmas isn't about the presents, or what is under the tree. Christmas is about Jesus, the Messiah, coming to earth. Salvation coming to earth, Jesus beginning His mission of reconciliation and salvation.
What traditions does your family have?
What do you do in your own home to make sure that Jesus is the main reason for the season?
What new traditions can you start this year?
If you don't have a tradition, join us and many other families in reading Luke 2 and making sure your priorities are right during this Christmas season.
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