Holiday Celebrations

Growing up, our family did holidays big. Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween ... we had fun. The relatives got together and we would giggle with our cousins till the dreaded "Kids it's time to go," would be shouted by the parents. The memories I have of those celebrations are wonderful. Birthday cakes decorated by my mother. Bountiful feasts for the holidays. Decorations everywhere. They were happy times. When I met Brad, his family celebrated holidays a little differently. Since his immediate family lived away from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, the celebrations weren't nearly as big, unless they made the trip to Wisconsin to be with them.

Consequently when Brad and I married, we were joining two very different ways of celebrating together. Like Brad's family, we lived far from our extended families, so unless we traveled to Iowa or Pennsylvania (or they traveled here), our holidays became personal affairs, oftentimes including church families in celebrations. We celebrated many Thanksgivings and Easters at parties described as "for families without families." Our Christmas Caroling Campfire has included anyone and everyone (neighbors, church friends, co-workers, co-volunteers) who wanted to celebrate the newborn Christ. We never took our costumed kids to trick-or-treat at their grandparents on Halloween because they didn't live near by. July 4th was always with friends usually swimming in someone's pool then off to the fireworks. Brad and I never forgot to celebrate our anniversary and Valentine's Day in a special and romantic way. And birthdays are a big deal ... all about the person celebrating. With our kids we had birthday parties every single year as they were growing up (lake parties, quinceanera, sweet sixteen, scavenger hunts, water slides, pinatas, princess parties, sports themes). I wanted our family celebrations to be as big and wonderful as I remembered mine as a child. And I think, with our church families and friends, we accomplished that.

I am a big proponent of making memories ... every day if possible (Brad says I need it on a T-shirt: "Make A Memory"). So getting together with family and friends to celebrate is a big part of that. Each holiday only comes around once each year, so I believe in really enjoying each one. Brad wasn't as crazy about big celebrations except on Thanksgiving (let's face it - feast and football, what's not to love?), but, bless him, he not only put up with my big shebangs, but even planned a few (15th Anniversary Surprise Wedding Vow Renewal, anyone? Or 49th birthday Beach Surprise with the kids?).

You couples are coming from different background and traditions with how you celebrate. You may have different foods you eat, ways you open gifts, ways of decorating, specific things you participate in, special days of doing things and meshing those together can sometimes be tricky. But they can be unique to you and so much fun. We encourage you to do two things:

1. Remember it is about you both and your family first. What works for you as a couple and for your future children is what you need to focus on.
2. Respect one another's memories. Find ways to combine things you both love about your family memories. For example, Daddy's family opened Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve. My family did Christmas morning. The compromise ... Christmas Eve our children opened one gift (typically Christmas jammies) and the rest on Christmas morn.

Have fun on the holidays you have ahead. Celebrate with joy. Truly understand the meaning behind the faith holidays in celebrating. You will have days ahead filled with jobs, challenges, responsibilities and the like, so making sure to find ways to observe yearly festivities will give you things to look forward to and memories to last your lifetime.

Discussion: Share how your family celebrated each holiday and birthdays? What are similar about your celebrations? What are different? What would you like to incorporate from each way of celebrating?

Prayer: Father, we thank You that we have so many opportunities to celebrate! And we're especially thankful for the holidays that celebrate You! Lord we pray we can create new ways of celebrating with one another while keeping many of our traditions from our individual families. In Jesus we pray, Amen.

Lá Bainise Shona!

Shamrocks, green, leprechauns, rainbows and luck o' the Irish to you! Today is St. Patrick's Day (and your Aunt Jodi Amoroso's birthday) and since we have some Irish in us, we thought's we'd take a look wedding traditions that hail from the Emerald Isle.

Engagements years ago were sealed with a handfasting, an ancient Celtic or pagan tradition, which nowadays is included in the wedding ceremony itself. It's where the bride and groom are holding hands and a cord is tied around their wrists, binding them to one another. The cord might be braided with significant colors to the couple or they may use a ribbon. This is where the term "tying the knot" comes from.

Bride's dresses were traditionally an icy blue and she might carry a horseshoe, ends up, to symbolize collecting good luck. This horseshoe is then hung in the couple's home. The bride might also carry bells to ward off evil spirits and a lacy handkerchief which is later made into a bonnet for the couple's first baby. The bride will probably need a purse for all this stuff!

The Claddagh ring is most popular for grooms, featuring two hands holding a crowned heart. The ring, around since the 1700s, represents loyalty, friendship and love. Sometimes both fiances would wear the Claddagh (which comes from a city near Galway) prior to the wedding with the end of the heart pointing away from the body then turn it around at the wedding so the end pointed toward the body, showing they were taken.

At the reception the couple might drink Poitín (or poteen), a whiskey made from potatoes (which grown in abundance in Ireland). They might also drink the honey wine, mead. We talked February 24 about how couples would drink mead for a phase of the moon, thus the honey moon. There are plenty of Irish drinks Ayla will certainly remember from her RiRa pub days. Toasting with a "Sláinte" for "Good health!"

The phrase "Your goose is cooked" is Irish and comes from weddings. Apparently a goose is cooked by the bride the night before the wedding. Once it's done, there's no turning back for the groom. Corned beef and cabbage is a popular wedding meal.

The traditional Irish wedding cake is more of a fruitcake. With all the tokens to ward away evil spirits, you wouldn't think you'd need a fruitcake, too.

You can do a little Irish gig, step dancing (think Riverdance) or even a traditional céilí (kay-lee) folkdance at the reception.

What is so interesting to us is that little bits and pieces of each of the nationalities we've learned about are already part of weddings and receptions in various ways. It is fun to see what other culture's customs are. So there are some Irish ones to choose from. Lá Bainise Shona (Happy Wedding Day)!

Discussion: What of the above traditions would you be willing to incorporate into your wedding or reception? Which are definite "no's."

Prayer: Father, how grateful we are to You, the Creator of all peoples and nations. Lord may everything that is part of the wedding and reception, bring You praise and glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.