I love to tell people my family is of Mexican heritage. They look at me confused when I tell them, and they have good reason: I don't look Hispanic. Neither does my husband. And our daughter is fair and tall—a perfect combination of our Dutch and German genes.
But our son has a beautiful olive complexion and a thick, dark head of hair. Jaydon joined our family through adoption and on that day, three-and-a-half years ago, our family instantly became Mexican as well.
Our Dutch and German traditions come naturally, especially during holiday times like Christmas. On December 5, our children put their shoes out hoping Saint Nikolas will fill them with treats rather than coal, just like my husband and I did as children. These traditions carry through to New Year's Day, when we will eat New Year's cookies, which really aren't cookies, but rather deep fried dough dipped in sugar. (Not so healthy, but oh, so good!)
Mexican traditions don't come as naturally to me but as I research this new culture, I'm struck with how many traditions have a Christian foundation, rather than focusing on Santa or gifts. For example, Nacimiento is an elaborate nativity scene, which sometimes takes up an entire entryway or room. Las Pasados is another beautiful tradition where, every night for the 12 days before Christmas, the children dress up as characters of the Christmas story and go door-to-door asking if there is room in the Inn. They are turned away until arriving at a final home where there is a party welcoming the new baby Jesus.
As I've reflected these past few years about our Christmas traditions and trying to add in a few Mexican ones, I've wondered what my children are learning about Christmas. By my actions, are they learning to reflect on Christ's birth rather their wish lists? Unfortunately, I'm not happy with the answer to that question.
Throughout the Bible, we see the Israelites taking great pains to ensure that their children and future generations would remember God's faithfulness. After 40 years of wandering through the dessert, the Israelites finally make it to the Jordan River and are ready to cross into the Promised Land. God performs another miracle by parting the waters and allowing them to cross through on dry land. As they reach the halfway point, God gives instructions to Joshua.
“Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder…. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7 NIV)
Did you see that? They set up a memorial; something to help their children remember God's faithfulness in bringing them into the Promised Land. The Bible is filled with other such examples of remembrance. The tradition of celebrating a Passover meal every year began as a way to acknowledge God's faithfulness in rescuing the Israelites from slavery. “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance” (Exodus 12:14). The Feast of the Tabernacles was an annual celebration to remember living in tents for 40 years in the desert. “…so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God'” (Leviticus 23:43). And who can forget the Lord's Supper? “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Perhaps this is what our Christmas traditions need to be—a memorial, a way of remembering, something to pass on to our children and their children, so that we never forget Christ's birth.
After all, the Bible also says that we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). So, not only is our family Dutch, German, and Mexican, we are of Christian nationality too. Our Christmas should be filled with traditions from this culture that help us to remember and teach our children of the beautiful gift of Christ becoming man, paving the way for His own death to allow us to be in relationship with our Father.
As I think of our Christmas traditions in a more intentional way, I hope my focus has been realigned. And perhaps this will be the year that we finally set up a Nacimiento as our memorial to Christ's birth.
