At the Weaver house, we don’t have a lot of traditions, but I love tradition, so the ones we have are very special to me. I think our favorite Christmas tradition is our Christmas Eve slumber party. Our children anticipate this one all year, and Kurt and I love the togetherness it creates. Here’s how it works: We go to the Christmas Eve service and then come home, set up cots and sleeping bags in our bedroom, and EVERYONE sleeps in our room! “That doesn’t sound like fun!” you might be thinking. But, the tradition it has become and the excitement it brings is worth every single sleepless moment! So, there we are, all crowded into the master bedroom. We each open one gift (usually new jammies for everyone; and of course they match, c’mon, we’re Weavers!), and we watch a Christmas movie until everyone is asleep. Then, when we wake up in the morning, it’s Christmas!!!! We all get dressed in something red and head downstairs to unwrap gifts and sing Christmas carols. Despite the lack of sleep, I wouldn’t trade this memory for anything! All year, this is what the children are excited for at Christmas time. And I love that, because it is building family time into them all!

A brand new tradition we have is to get together with a couple of care groups and have a “Christmas Morning in the Evening at the Weaver’s” party. This tradition was started three years ago, when the Garner care group decided to invite themselves over to start a new Weaver tradition. This year, the Garner care group merged into two new groups, Landis and Randolph, and we were privileged to have almost everyone from both of those groups in our home the beginning of this month. There was much yummy breakfast, Christmas caroling around the piano, everyone in Christmas morning attire (Josh Landis was all decked out- complete with bath robe!), with children, laughter and fellowship abounding. We even got a picture of all of us! Thanks guys for being a part of this tradition… we love it!

This year, as a family we have been talking a lot about gifts, and why we give and receive them. We have been reminding the children of the greatest gift we have received. The Son of God came as a human baby for the purpose of dieing, to save His people from their sin and make a way for us to be in relationship with God! This is the best gift ever! The tradition of reminding our children (and ourselves) of this glorious gift of the gospel is the most important of all. Even if we don’t have the resources for anything else, this is the greatest gift and tradition we can make for our families!

Merry Christmas to ALL of you! I truly am very rich, indeed, to be blessed with the fellowship of such amazing girls here in Crossway Church!