NEW TRADITIONS
Las Tradiciones Nuevas
by
Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Monday, November 30, 2020
Because my older sister was so tall, it was a tradition for her to place the angel atop our Christmas tree every year, but that changed when she married and moved to her new home. [Photographer: Andreas Lischka. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.]
When I was growing up, it was a tradition for my very tall older sister to place the angel ornament on the top of our Christmas tree each year. However, the year I was eleven years old, there was just my mother and I to celebrate the holiday because my sister had married and established a home with her husband. Not only did the house seem empty, but our finances were especially tight. In the past, Mother and I had purchased one new Christmas ornament every year because one was all we could afford. That year, even one seemed an extravagance. However, we still looked at ornaments every time we saw them for sale.
One evening, while Mother and I were at our neighborhood pharmacy, we happened to see a bright red box of china bell ornaments.
This bright red box captured our attention. [Photographer: Mary Hunt Webb*.]
There were ten ornaments in the box. When we looked at the price tag, we were surprised to find that they were inexpensive.
I looked at Mother and asked, "Can we buy them?"
She wasn't sure they would last very long, but she nodded so that instead of one new ornament that year, we gained ten. Although we had anticipated that it would be a lean Christmas, the addition of those ten china bells to our Christmas tree somehow made our celebration seem more elegant.
That year, we started a new tradition. The china bells were the first ornaments to go on our Christmas tree. Although we didn't have many presents under our tree, we had more decorations on it than we had expected.
The next year, we eagerly looked forward to hanging the china bells so that we again put them on the tree first. Each year thereafter, we continued the tradition of putting the china bells on the tree before we added any other ornaments. Each time my sister gave birth to a child, Mother expected that one of the bells might get broken when her grandchildren visited. Amazingly, those bells survived my sister's three sons, my one son after I married, our grandson years later, and all other children that visited us. Additionally, my husband and I have packed and transported those bells seven times across the western half of the United States. Each time we opened the box to hang the bells on the tree, it has been a delight to find that none are broken!
Amazingly, all ten china bells have survived more than half a century! [Photographer: Mary Hunt Webb*.]
That simple purchase during a seemingly lean and lonely Christmas turned into the start of a new tradition of hanging the ten china bells on the tree before we added other ornaments. That's how traditions start. They begin when the usual patterns of life get disrupted. In an effort to compensate for whatever change has occurred, people find new ways to replace them with something else, as Mother and I did.
This year, with the restrictions that have accompanied the coronavirus, businesses have closed permanently, employees have lost their jobs, families have been prohibited from gathering, and established traditions have been swept aside for the sake of health. As families seek to remain united, they search for alternate ways of doing things. As they do so, they create new traditions when they repeat them.
As you look for new ways to keep your family together and united, remember that Romans 12:2 advises, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will." (NIV) Although it may feel uncomfortable, our minds are being renewed, and we are being reshaped for events that are ahead. While that renewal may not be according to our desires, we must trust that it is according to God's will and plan because Jeremiah 29:11 assures us, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (NIV)
When we trust in God, we can relax in the knowledge that all will turn out well.
As you cope with the changes that have been thrust upon you, bear in mind that those adjustments may become the traditions that your children and your grandchildren may observe. When they do so, they may remember you in the process so that you will never be forgotten. [Photographer: Ragy Sabry. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.]
BIBLE VERSES USED IN THIS POSTING
Romans 12:2 — Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)
Romanos 12:2 — No conforméis a este siglo, sino transformaos por medio de la renovación de vuestro entendimiento, para que comprobéis cuál sea la buen voluntad de Dios, agradable y perfecta. (Reina-Valera 1960)
Jeremiah 29:11 — 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' (NIV)
JeremÃas 29:11 — Porque yo sé los pensamientos que tengo acerca de vosotros, dice Jehová, pensamientos de paz, y no de mal, para daros el fin que esperáis. (Reina-Valera 1960)
May you find comfort in knowing that God is with you through all the changes and that He will guide you as you establish new traditions for this holy season. [Photographer: Marjon Besteman-Horn. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.]
* Please do not use our original photos without our permission. These include photos by Mary Hunt Webb, Morris Webb, Jr., Morris Webb, Sr., and C.B. Hunt. Thank you.
