Traditions

The holidays has passed and we are well into February.  The holidays typically seem to past in a flurry of busyness.  We have to maintain all the aspects of daily life, such as work and schooling, then we tend to add on all the extra activities to celebrate: cookie bakes, gift exchanges, holiday programs, family gathers, etc.  As the holidays approached, I listened to a podcast that encouraged people not to forsake relationships as you follow seasonal or familiar traditions.  This year I found myself facing the opposite.  How do we maintain traditions of celebrating, when we have stripped them down to their true meanings?
As we live intentionally overseas (see last post on November 3), we often celebrate our holidays in a very different outward manner.  Yes, the traditional ingredients and decorations may not be readily available (I have a green wreath on my door made from ribbon instead of evergreen boughs), but as we hope to communicate truth to those we live around, we have really evaluated the meaning behind many of the traditions we hold and ask whether they communicate the truth we desire.  As we do this, I have found, it is easy to take out some of the festive fun.  Traditions aren't bad in and of themselves; they are a way of celebrating passed down from generation to generation.  But as we try to communicate truth to our children, then to our neighbors, how do we celebrate in a manner that creates some festiveness, yet highlights truth?  This year, I indeed felt the intentionality it takes to do this.

 We began the "Holiday Season" with a trip to the big city to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We celebrated on a Tuesday, with chicken, and three different nationalities.  Did the meaning of the holiday diminish as all as it looked very different than what John and I grew up traditionally?  No, it did not.  We had a lovely time, gathering with fellow workers, and sharing the many things we were thankful for!
We returned home to Barat in anticipation of Whitman's birthday!

We made a piñata out of the largest balloon we've ever had!

Unfortunately, it became a toy rather then a candy container as we didn't make it strong enough.

It took a lot of time just to paper-mache one layer.  

Opening presents the morning of!

The boys are always thrilled when their birthdays fall on weekends.  This year Whitman's was a Sunday.

Getting lost in a present!

Whitman has become an avid reader.

Nine years old!

Whitman requested Monkey Bread for breakfast.  

I also cut up some mangoes as it was the season and he is a fruit lover.

Whitman requested Jello cups instead of a traditional cake.  

This 'looked' different as we celebrated, but our goal was to celebrate another year of Whitman's life and we did that by allowing him to pick the menu for the day.

After celebrating Whitman turning nine, we turned to celebrating the next holiday.  Creating a sense of festiveness is always difficult as it feels like summer with the palm trees outside our windows and the 90 degree weather.

We were sent these cute marshmellows.  Instead of hot cocoa, we made smores, yes, in December!

Enjoying the goodness!

Working on some festive crafts, again sent to us.

We pulled out our decorations: our advent calendar, stockings, and cards.

Stocking we fill the morning of with reminders of His faithfulness, our advent calendar we use to tell of the happenings leading up to His birth, and the cards are just a decoration to add festiveness.  

 It was beginning to look a lot like..., though it felt quite different.  The boys agreed to do homeschooling the week of as grandparents were visiting for the following two weeks.  John adn I continued with our regular schedules of language learning, translation, and social programs.  The day of we celebrated first with remembering the many ways He has shown us his grace and blessed us.

To remember His blessings, we take intentionally selected ornaments out of our stockings, tell the story of the blessing, then hang them on this tree to remind us throughout the day.  

We enjoyed a nice meal together of rolls, potatoes, chicken, vegies, and pie.  

A cookie platter we enjoyed throughout the day.

It was slow going as we were all on a little bit of sugar overload.

We had a very lovely time celebrating.  In the end, though some aspects felt forced at first, we seemed to focus on truth and yet, at the same time, had a festive "party" of sorts to celebrate.
The following week, we were able to continue celebrating His goodness with grandparents on another island before bringing them back to our house in Barat.  What a blessing to spend the time together!

Evangeline ecstatic to be with Grammy and Grampy.