Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Christmas Traditions: Ornaments & Prophecy Boxes


Here's a photo of our Christmas tree. While you may not realize this looking at the photo, you are looking at two of our family traditions.

The first tradition decorates our tree. There's a hodgepodge of ornaments and our tree certainly doesn't have that beautiful designer tree flair where everything matches. Someday I hope to have the space and money for two trees because I love those nice, matching, designer trees. But our tree is special too. in 1995, I started a new tradition for myself and purchased my first "special" ornament. It was a Frosty the snowman ornament. Every year since, finding my ornament of the year is a priority.

My special ornament can be hard to find because they can't be just any ornament. I try to find one that reflects something significant from that year. One of our ornaments is a house for the year we bought our house. Three of them show a pregnant woman or bear to denote the years I was pregnant. This year I will be adding another pregnant something to the collection. We even have a 9-11 ornament.

I've added the kids to this tradition as well. Now I buy an ornament for the family tree and one for each child. They get to pick their ornament or I try to find something that is really fitting. This year, Sammy picked a football player and Mika got a cute little fairy.

Our other tradition is under the tree. If you look closely, you'll see decorated boxes. Those are our prophecy boxes. They are a combination of two ideas that I read about once. There are 25 small boxes. Inside each box, glued to the bottom of the box, is an Old Testament prophecy about Christ. Inside the lid of each box is a New Testament scripture showing the answer to that prophecy. Also inside the box is a small treat for the kids: a small piece of candy, quarters, temporary tattoos, or a slip of paper outlining something fun we're going to do that night. The kids really look forward to opening the box each night and it helps us to remember the real meaning behind Christmas.

If you want to make your own prophecy boxes, here's a good list of prophecy/answer scriptures you can use.



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1 Comments:

The Four Week Vegan said...

I really like that you have combined the excitement of counting down to Christmas with the true meaning of Christmas. Very cool!