Happy New Year

Good morning Trinity Tribe!

Happy New Year! Yesterday was the first day of the new church year! We didn't celebrate with streamers, blow-horns, and confetti. We celebrated by decorating the church symbolically yesterday. We hung wreaths on the door of the church welcoming Christ into our midst. We strung pine garland on the kneeler rail to remind us of our need to repent and return to God's loving arms. We lit our Chrismon tree which has physical symbols to remind us of the doctrines of our faith. We lit the Advent wreath to remind us to have the splendid light of Jesus in our hearts.

How else are we preparing for Christ's birth? At our house, we have put up an advent wreath on the dining room table. As an adult, I have never celebrated this ritual at home. However, I look forward to lighting the candles and talking about preparing our hearts for Christ at home. We have advent calendars for the girls, which will be a fun way to mark the days until Christmas. We will be getting the Nativity scenes out this week as well.

One of my friends from Divinity School, Kathy, is of Polish extraction. Down the family tree they were Roman Catholic, but they are now United Methodist. However, one of their family traditions on Christmas Eve is to have a very large piece of communion wafer that has a nativity scene etched in it. Each person breaks off a piece of the bread while standing with a second family member who also breaks off a piece of the bread. They each wish one another the peace of Christ and say Merry Christmas and then move on to the next family member. It was a neat tradition when I spent a Christmas Eve with her family several years ago. We ate Christmas cookies and read the Christmas story about Santa. However, Christ's birth was a real part of the celebration.

On Christmas we remember that God has saved us from ourselves and our sin by walking and talking and living life as a human being. As the Bible says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” — John 1:14, NIV. That little bitty baby will grow up and teach us to live well.

How are you preparing your hearts and minds and homes for Christ to come in? What traditions do you have from your family? What decorations do you use to remind you that Christmas is about more than the shopping? Do you have a special food that you eat?