After we moved back home from Texas, life felt like it was shifting in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time. We were planting ourselves again—finding our footing, rebuilding routines, and learning what “home” really meant. It was during that season that I began a few simple Christmas traditions with my girls. At the time, they felt small. Looking back now, I can see how God was using them to build something much bigger.
The first tradition was an ornament each year—one that represented who they were in that season of life. A favorite hobby, an inside joke, a milestone year. The plan was always that one day, when they had homes and families of their own, those ornaments would go with them. A reminder that they were loved, seen, and cherished long before they ever hung a tree of their own.
Scripture tells us to “remember the deeds of the Lord” (Psalm 77:11). Those ornaments became a visual reminder of God’s faithfulness through the years—through moves, changes, growth, and grace.
The second tradition was opening one gift from Santa on Christmas Eve: Christmas “jammies”, or pajamas. Nothing extravagant. Just something new and cozy to sleep in and to wear on Christmas morning while we gathered around the tree. It was about creating a sense of anticipation and togetherness—a quiet, holy pause before the celebration.
Christmas Eve always reminds me of waiting. Waiting for morning. Waiting for light. Waiting for the fulfillment of a promise. Much like the world waited for a Savior, we rested in the stillness, knowing joy was coming.
The third tradition was socks in the stocking. Honestly, we thought it was funny—and it stuck. But even that small, practical gift carries meaning now. God cares about the everyday needs just as much as the big moments. Scripture reminds us that He provides everything we need (Matthew 6:32), sometimes in the simplest ways.
Today, those traditions are being passed down to my granddaughter.
I bought her her very first Christmas ornament—tiny and perfect, marking the beginning of her story. Santa delivered her Christmas jammies early this year. And of course, I found the tiniest socks to place in her very first Christmas stocking.
As I held those little items in my hands, I was reminded that legacy isn’t built in grand gestures. It’s built in consistency. In showing up. In creating spaces where love, faith, and joy are felt year after year.
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 tells us to impress God’s commands on our children—to talk about them at home, along the way, in the coming and the going. Sometimes, that looks like Bible study and prayer. And sometimes, it looks like ornaments, pajamas, and socks—quiet traditions that whisper, This is who we are. This is where we belong. This is how God has loved us.
Some traditions are worth carrying forward—not because they’re perfect, but because they point to a faithful God who never changes, from generation to generation.
Faith Love n Joy 