Christmas Traditions {Part 3}

The Christmas season is upon us!  For the next few weeks, Walking Worthy will bring you posts full of Christmas traditions from our very own Southeastern family.  This week, Amy Whitfield shares a tradition that has been her family's favorite for 9 years.  Enjoy!

In the fall of 2003, Crossway Books published Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper.  It was a straightforward work that laid out the beauty of telling our family the story of redemption through the traditions we set up and the memories we make.  At any time in my life, I would have enjoyed this book, but that particular season was perfect for me.  We were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first child, Mary, who would come to us four months later.  I devoured everything that was described in that book.

Some practices she laid out found a place in our family experience, while others were replaced by similar traditions, but with their own “Whitfield flair.”  One very specific tradition rose to the top.  It was a simple Advent exercise, complete with props, that she had appropriately named “The Noel Calendar.” J

I loved this idea so much that I was thrilled to learn the exact calendar she had designed was available for purchase, and I promptly ordered my own to begin using in December of 2004.*  Since Mary was born in January, her first Christmas was a wonderful experience.  She was eleven months old and very aware of her surroundings.  She moved around, laughed, and enjoyed the lights.  

{My son had a very different experience for his first Christmas—at not quite four months, Drew was forced to pose for endless pictures by the tree when all he wanted was to eat!}  

For Mary, the traditions we started were something that we could watch her experience.  We knew she might be too young to remember her first experience with them down the road, but she wasn’t too young to experience delight on that day.

When we pulled out the Noel calendar the first year, the simplicity was the most striking feature.  We hung up a large piece of burlap with a pattern of numbered Velcro patches and prepared the 25 figures of wood and plastic that would eventually compose a full 3-D picture of the Nativity.  The figures were big enough that Mary could see them and touch them and stick them on the cloth in their places with our help each night.

More important than the activity, we were building a story.  The companion booklet called for us to retell the story every night, just adding a bit more every time.  By Christmas Day, we tell the entire story of Jesus’ birth.  Every night would get a little longer, and we would always begin with these words:

“Jesus is the greatest Treasure of all.  This is the story of how he came to us!”

That first Christmas was so exciting.  We held her at the calendar every night and recited the story, even as we knew she didn’t understand it all.  But we repeated it just the same.  As wonderful as that “first Christmas” memory is for Keith and for me, things are even more meaningful nine years later.  Because now, when I begin the story, Mary and Drew are reciting it right along with me.  Even though it has been a year since we last did this, when I start reading each night and pause at key words, they jump right in.  They get excited when it is their turn to put a figure on the calendar.  They talk about how our Mary has the same name as the mother of Jesus, and they are happy that there are two angels so they both get to have a turn placing them in the scene.  But most of all, they know the story.

Our Noel calendar isn’t fancy.  It isn’t elaborate and it wasn’t expensive.  But it’s our favorite Nativity scene in the house.  And on Christmas morning, before we even go near the tree to exchange any gifts, Mary and Drew come to our room.  We get the calendar down, and we read the story.  And at the end Keith lays the figure that represents Jesus as a baby in the manger, and we all read,

“When Jesus grew up, he died and rose from the dead to save us from our sins.  He is our greatest Treasure!”

Yes, we have what seems like a million favorite things to do at this time of year.  We love to look at lights, to play music, to eat special foods, and to watch fun movies.  But our favorite tradition comes on a piece of burlap.  Amidst all the hectic moments of the season, it does what we need so desperately—it keeps the true story of Christmas in view.

*The Noel Calendar is no longer available for purchase.  However, this post from Noel Piper’s blog shares the story as she wrote it and is a great help for anyone who would like to make their own version.

Amy Whitfield is married to Keith, who teaches systematic theology. They have two children—Mary (age 9), and Drew (age 8). Through the years she has been a youth ministry intern, a live-in nanny, a pastor's wife, a homeschooling mom, an executive assistant, and a professor's wife—and she has come to understand the need for women to be transformed by the gospel in even the smallest details of daily life. Amy currently wears many hats and enjoys them all: wife and mom, assistant to Charlotte Akin, and she does additional work for both SEBTS and LifeWay Christian Resources. Her favorite time of year is the Advent season.