The holidays are a time when the traditions we enjoy become more and more important with each passing year. And these traditions help shape our identity and how we live throughout the rest of the year as well.
Which of your holiday traditions have had the biggest positive impact in your family?
I’ve shared before how close my wife Tina and I are with our kids. We really love hanging out and being together. The five of us, along with our growing in-law contingency, look forward to Christmas and a whole pile of Team K traditions each year. [clickToTweet tweet=”Family traditions carry a ‘code’ that shapes you and your family throughout the year.” quote=”Family traditions carry a ‘code’ that shapes you and your family throughout the year.”]
Traditions Carry A Code
Now I don’t think the things we do each holiday are necessarily so special or different than a lot of families. But they carry within them a ‘code’ of sorts that has helped Tina and I raise remarkable children, who now as adults, are some of our closest friends, and are people who love God and others really well.
Thank you God!
That’s how all national or personal traditions work; they set and reset a code of what’s important, who we are and what we stand for in life.
Here’s a short list of some of our many favorite traditions and how the’ve helped shape our kids identity and also how we live throughout the year. Feel free to borrow or adapt any of these!
An Open Table
We have always had extra friends and extended “family” members around the table at holidays. I can almost not remember a holiday meal that Tina, the kids and I have shared that did not include others that were not a part of our “bio family”. We have always practiced an open table, and looked forward to sharing the blessings we have received as a family. Some of these friends have truly become a part of Team K in a very real sense.
How it shaped us: Our children now treat everyone they meet like family as well. It is super-common for them to host weekly meals, or their own holiday feasts, with loads of extra folks along for the ride. They now feel there is always an extra place at the table and room for one more. This displays God’s love and his desire to see everyone “come home” and enjoy his blessings.
Polish Traditional Breakfast (sorta)
Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter mornings all have one thing in common for Team K: we start the day-long feasting and celebration with a traditional Polish breakfast. Well, our version of it anyway. Loads of keilbasa (smoked sausage), eggs, toast and usually a few other Team K favorites thrown in for good measure. Like salami eggs! (Here’s the recipe.) Top this off with pots of strong coffee and a mimosa or two, and you have the start of a pretty awesome day together.
How it shaped us: These breakfasts, more than any other event, have helped connect our kids with their Polish heritage. Each time it renews the bond the kids had with my parents and grandparents, and has reinforced that we are all part of something bigger and more wonderful than just our immediate family alone. The funny thing is…my kids are only 1/4 Polish, but if you watched them eat this breakfast you would think they were born and raised in Warsaw!
A Christmas Story
Every year since my kids were little, our family has watched the movie A Christmas Story together on Christmas Eve.
We usually go early to a Christmas Eve service, then race home, change into our pajamas (this is a very important step), and pop massive amounts of popcorn. We lie piled up together on the couch or on blankets strewn around the floor and pretty much recite every line of the movie as it happens. It never gets old watching this Midwestern family (like us) going through their holiday traditions, which is now a part of ours.
How it shaped us: Okay, this one is mostly just fun. But when the kids got a little older we began opening up this tradition for others in the community to join us…as long as they came in their pajamas! One year we had two TVs playing the film and almost 40 people all together for this tradition.
By letting others join us for this pretty “private” family tradition, we showed them that we really saw them as family and were glad to share this classic time with them. Our kids NEVER miss this one, and I look forward to new little Team K members joining us soon. (Tina and I are praying hard!)
Blessed to Be a Blessing
Most of the traditions we observe as a family are ones we created early in our marriage. We somehow knew that these repeated blessings would work deep into our identity and form a bond and understanding of who God made us to be and the gift we are to each other. And even more importantly, how our family has been blessed to be a blessing to others.
The next best time to get started with new, meaningful traditions is now.
I could go on and on with ours, and maybe I will share more in a future episode, but I really want to hear some of your holiday traditions and how they’ve helped shape you and your family identity. Please share them with me in the comments below. And Happy Holidays!
