Christmas Traditions

I found this from Christy Rose's blog.....
I didn't grow up with a ton of traditions, but nothing was ever focused on the REAL reason for this day. The birth of Christ. I read a comment on a friends blog and that commenter said her husband said he'd noticed there were not a lot of crosses up and she said "it's because it's about his birth and not his death". That is true, but it is about his death as well. Without Christ's birth, he couldn't live and spread the gospel, and he wouldn't have died on the cross to give us the hope and more importantly the promise of Salvation. It all goes hand in hand. Teaching our children WHY we celebrate Christ's birthday and why December 25 is such a special day for our family and to so many other Christians. We teach our children to say Merry Christmas, no Happy Holiday's in our family. To say I'm anything but politically correct is putting it lightly! ;) Would it be vain to say I really like that about myself? That's actually another post in itself!!
With that though we have started our own traditions, when Chad and I got married and began our family. So here are the important ones! :)

Reading from Luke about Christ's birth.
We open one gift on Christmas Eve (new pj's)
Since living in Germany our chapel does a Christmas Eve service so we always attend. It's a candle light service and it's so beautiful!
We pull the nativity set down and talk to the kids about it and share that (can't get that in their heads enough!)
We pray as a family, sharing what we're thankful for, and thank GOD for humbling himself to be born of a virgin girl in a stable! To think he KNEW where he'd be born as well as where and how he'd die.
While living in Germany something has become very important to me, I want Christmas Day to be focused on the Lord and our family. I like it to be quiet and as nonstressful as possible. I want to just feel gratitude that day especially.

Our lives are often full of so much uncertainty, but one thing that is never to be doubted is Christ, who he is, why he was, and what he means to me. How thankful I am for the birth of Christ, that he choose me to be his child, that he forgives me for my transgressions against him daily, for his love.