What do Animal, The Owl, Pepe Le Pew and Bashful have in common?

As I said in a previous post, Christmas morning was my favorite day of the year. 
I loved our Christmas traditions we had as a family.  There were times as a young kid, that I'd get worn out from the hours it would take us to unwrap gifts one at a time (Imagine, there were usually at least 7 people there, opening about 15 presents a piece...it took a while doing it one at a time)!
When we were really young, we'd all wake up early and go crawl into bed with my parents.  We'd say we were just there to "be with them" but in reality, we were doing whatever we could to wake them up and get them out of bed!

In our house, we had those old skeleton key holes.  When our parents would FINALLY get out of bed, they would let us one at a time look through the key whole to see all the presents under the tree. 

When we got a little older, my mom would try to get a jump on wrapping Christmas presents, but didn't want us to be able to tell whose gifts were whose. (Imagine adding a son-in-law and grand kid to the 5 children and 2 parents, with usually around 15 presents a piece, and I understand why she would want to get a jump on it) 
Her solution was to put "themed code names" on the presents.  The first year she used characters from the 7 dwarfs.  That year I was Bashful (quite appropriate given how shy I was as a kid).

Another year she used characters from the Muppets.  That year I was Animal (once again appropriate being a drummer).  Another year, it was Winnie the Pooh Characters and I was "The Owl"! (I would say once again appropriate given that I was the smartest of the family, but we all know that is just not true!)

Yet another year we did Looney Tunes and I was Pepe Le Pew.  I'd really just rather not comment on that one! :-)

Another unique family tradition for my family is what we call the "Grab Bag."  Each year, on Christmas Eve, at my grandmothers; folks give out gifts from the "Grab Bag".  Some of the gifts were significant given things that happened during the year, some gifts were traditions and some were just for fun.

One year, my grandfather got caught out on a sandbar at the beach when the tide came in.  He was out for quite a while before he was rescued.  So in the grab bag he got a floating raft.
Another year my brother had a "girl" on his Christmas list, so he got a "Wanna Women" Tasmanian Devil shirt.
Each year, my Great Aunt Mary would pass out the incredible mints that she would make (the greatest mints ever, I sure do miss getting those). 
The year I began to have interest in girls (and believe it or not, girls started having an interest in me), my grandfather gave me a stick to "beat the girls away" and my grandmother gave me a little black book to "keep up with all the girls." 
The grab bag was fun, it was one of my favorite family traditions and to this day, it still is one of my favorite family traditions. 

I look forward to creating new family traditions with Amy.  I hope to be able to incorporate traditions from my childhood as well as some from her childhood. 

Family traditions are great.  I love to hear about different families traditions.  I love to hear what different families do to make their holiday special and unique. 

However, families can also drive us crazy.  Some family traditions may be the source of what may drive you crazy during the holidays. 

But one thing I have learned, especially over the last few years, is that no matter how crazy your family may drive you at times, they are still YOUR family.  They are the family God has gifted to YOU.  You cannot trade them in, you cannot change them.  They are unique, they are special...and that is what makes them a gift from God. 

I know some of you may not actually be looking forward to Christmas this year because you'll have to spend time with your families.  Some of you may not have the greatest family situation.

But I encourage you to enter this holiday season taking the time to appreciate your family.  Take time to appreciate your family traditions. 

I can promise you that one day you will look back and realize that no matter how crazy your family made you, no matter how annoyed you may have been by some of the traditions at times, you will miss them.

Take the time this holiday season to tell you families how much you are thankful for them.  Tell your parents how much you appreciate the traditions they created with you.  Don't miss the opportunity.  Don't take this holiday season for granted. 

Our time here on earth is temporary.  We need to live in the moment and enjoy every gift, every blessing that God has given us.


That includes our families that we way too often take for granted!