Traditions
Traditions
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that most Americans remember from their childhood. Thanksgiving was a time when the pilgrims came together with their families and celebrated what God had done in their lives. Now it is still a holiday of reflecting on the blessings of life rather than on the problems and issues that confront us every day. I think it is fortunate that we have a holiday in the United States that is no longer focused on consumer needs, but rather is focused on being thankful for whatever God has given us.
Thanksgivings at my house have always included our family enjoying time with one another and participating in the traditions we have created. We would usually start the holiday the day before by preparing the feast for tomorrow’s festivities. Without help from everyone in the family, the holiday would be tiring and the focus would be on the amount of work, rather than the blessings of God. There are chores to be done, food to buy, people to call, and decorations to set up. With such a large family of ten kids, most meals take a lot of preparation, but the Thanksgiving meal is more than just food, it is traditions.
Every Thanksgiving as long as I could remember was surrounded by a few activities that our entire family would participate in every year at this time. The decorations would be pulled out and the table adorned with a turkey-print table cloth with a mixture of wooden candle holders (all made by the children in our family), turkey shapes, salt and pepper shakers in pilgrim shapes, and small pumpkins, gourds, and small husks of colored dried corn. After the Thanksgiving meal, our family would always go to the beach and play some tag football. After such a large meal, the exercise was welcome, so we could have some more room for the dinner, which was composed of leftovers. We would all come home from the beach and lay around in the living room together, while one of the boys put on some Christmas music. The tradition is that no Christmas music is allowed until the day after Thanksgiving, with the exception being Thanksgiving evening after all the festivities were over. The next morning we would all rise and go to the Christmas tree farm and cut down our tree. Most all of our Christmas decorations are assembled and put up the day after Thanksgiving, making it a long, tiring, but really fun day.
Since coming to college, I have realized how much I miss all the usual traditions of my family. I do not get the chance to participate in the festivities of Thanksgiving with my family, since we only get two days off for Thanksgiving and I live too far away from the school to go home. It is the times that the out-of-state college kids are sorely missed from the table, when it is stuffed full of food and surrounded by familiar, friendly faces of family. It would mean so much to me if I was able to go home to California and participate in the traditions with my family. Even if this never happens, the traditions I have grown up with will follow me into my future, even when I am away from home.
The above was a paper I wrote for class. It is about Thanksgiving, which is tomorrow, and I found it fitting.
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that most Americans remember from their childhood. Thanksgiving was a time when the pilgrims came together with their families and celebrated what God had done in their lives. Now it is still a holiday of reflecting on the blessings of life rather than on the problems and issues that confront us every day. I think it is fortunate that we have a holiday in the United States that is no longer focused on consumer needs, but rather is focused on being thankful for whatever God has given us.
Thanksgivings at my house have always included our family enjoying time with one another and participating in the traditions we have created. We would usually start the holiday the day before by preparing the feast for tomorrow’s festivities. Without help from everyone in the family, the holiday would be tiring and the focus would be on the amount of work, rather than the blessings of God. There are chores to be done, food to buy, people to call, and decorations to set up. With such a large family of ten kids, most meals take a lot of preparation, but the Thanksgiving meal is more than just food, it is traditions.
Every Thanksgiving as long as I could remember was surrounded by a few activities that our entire family would participate in every year at this time. The decorations would be pulled out and the table adorned with a turkey-print table cloth with a mixture of wooden candle holders (all made by the children in our family), turkey shapes, salt and pepper shakers in pilgrim shapes, and small pumpkins, gourds, and small husks of colored dried corn. After the Thanksgiving meal, our family would always go to the beach and play some tag football. After such a large meal, the exercise was welcome, so we could have some more room for the dinner, which was composed of leftovers. We would all come home from the beach and lay around in the living room together, while one of the boys put on some Christmas music. The tradition is that no Christmas music is allowed until the day after Thanksgiving, with the exception being Thanksgiving evening after all the festivities were over. The next morning we would all rise and go to the Christmas tree farm and cut down our tree. Most all of our Christmas decorations are assembled and put up the day after Thanksgiving, making it a long, tiring, but really fun day.
Since coming to college, I have realized how much I miss all the usual traditions of my family. I do not get the chance to participate in the festivities of Thanksgiving with my family, since we only get two days off for Thanksgiving and I live too far away from the school to go home. It is the times that the out-of-state college kids are sorely missed from the table, when it is stuffed full of food and surrounded by familiar, friendly faces of family. It would mean so much to me if I was able to go home to California and participate in the traditions with my family. Even if this never happens, the traditions I have grown up with will follow me into my future, even when I am away from home.
The above was a paper I wrote for class. It is about Thanksgiving, which is tomorrow, and I found it fitting.
1 Comments:
Soon you and Jared will be starting your own family traditions. We do miss you greatly around the table and even in preparing the apple pies the day before. But I hope the greatest tradition we gave you growing up was to learn to be thankful no matter the situation/God is in control and he is for us! So have a great day and the Lord is with both of us...even far away.
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