traditions

Today I was remembering my Christmas programs as a child.  Every year, we would sing our Sunday School songs in the church basement.  It was musty and had poor lighting and a badly tuned piano....but we sang on carpet squares every week.  Then we dismissed to our classrooms for our lesson.  Every year, we assembled in the old community center Gym that had once been the high school gym.....and there were rows and rows of folding chairs and a big old wooden stage.....and the smell of chocolate and peanuts.  After the program, the classes dismissed to the outside of the gym and there the teacher had bags of paper bags full of chocolates and peanuts.  Tonight, I am remembering the smell of chocolate, nuts, a dusty gym and my own nerves.

All of my life I have loved Christmas.  My parents, even when things were hard, made sure Christmas was good.  I love that....I cherish it.  It matters now that I am a mom myself.

Next week is the program at my church for Precious.  The building is different, but I think there will still be a paper bag of chocolates and peanuts because here.....that is tradition.

Tradition is not everything.....but it is something.