Christmas as a child was always a special time with the family. Growing up Southern Baptist in a small southern town, church was the central part of everyday life not just Christmas. You went to church on Sunday Morning, sometimes Sunday night and usually on Wednesday nights for a class and dinner with the congregation. Activities such as lockins (sleepovers), camp, field trips, day trips, and other activities were centralized around church and the learning the bible. If you can get away from the modern day shopping mania, gift giving ad noseum and all that Christmas has become, it really is a special heartwarming time of the year. In college we use to go Christmas Caroling with the fraternities and sororities. We drank hot apple cider, wore our sweaters and scarves and went from house to house. And lastly, to the president of the university’s house for cookies, desserts, cider and celebration.
You could make Christmas fun by making ornaments for the tree with your kids. Sew strands of popcorn and cranberries to add to your real tree, not artificial tree. Real trees are so much more fun than fake tree’s. They make the house smell great like pine. Last year some friends of mine and their parents made the old German Wassail. It is a Christmas wine, made with oranges, cinnamon and nutmeg. We used cranberries in the bottom of the glass jar just to decorate. The wassail smells up the entire house and makes it warm and inviting kind of like baking sugar cookies.
German Christmas Wassail Wine Ingredients:
1 gallon apple cider 8 sticks cinnamon 1 lemon, washed and sliced 1 orange, washed and sliced 1 Tblsp. whole cloves 1 Tblsp. allspice 1Tblsp nutmeg
Directions:
Simmer the nonalcoholic ingredients together for 1-2 hours, and then add the wine about 10 minutes before serving (hot). You can also pour the red wine in with the other ingredients but remember the alcohol will cook out of it just like in rum cake.
There are so many beautiful traditions in every religion that can bring a family closer together and resonate in your mind forever. For those people that didn’t grow up in religious families, there is still time to make your own memories and traditions. Try to volunteer at a food bank, work with the elderly, or a homeless shelter. Give back your time and money it will do more for you than it does for the people you are giving to.