My Favorite Tradition Is Today

Today marks the beginning of the Christmas season for me. Why, you might ask. Well, today I will pile into a car with my grandmother, my mother, my sister and my daughter and we will all head over to the Expo Center in Portland, OR to visit America's Largest Christmas Bazarre. We have gone every year since I was young, the women of the family and it is a tradition I have come to cherish above all others. Even the year I moved to Denver with my husband, I flew home for the bazarre. I simply could not miss it. I have gone very pregnant (last year, due in two weeks), with four month old twins, single, married and everything in between.

Why is it so special to me? Perhaps because I get amazing deals on jewelry that I buy both for myself and my family and friends. It could be the festive music that plays over the whole center, filling my heart with cheer. Then again, the hundreds of free food samples are quite tantalizing. Maybe it's the 2000 vendors who display their work with pride and renew my hope in the American dream each and every year. All those things are wonderful, but I don't think they're the reason I treasure my trip the Christmas Bazarre. The time with my mom, my sister, my grandma and now my daughter is what draws me in. It is the only time all year that each of set apart a whole day to do nothing but be with each other. We are all so busy, with lives leading down such very different paths, but this one day, all that gets set aside and we focus on each other. We get to know one another again. We laugh and giggle and chat and I LOVE it!

Isn't that why Jesus came in the first place? To unite people? He brought GOOD news, news that frees us to be ourselves, safe in the identity of Christ and enjoy each other for who we are, distinct personalities, but all under Him.

I hope your day is as fabulous as I know mine will be. Now I have to scoot. We leave in an hour.