The pastors and staff at KCBT wish to share a part of their family traditions for the holiday season. We wish you a blessed Christmas as we celebrate our Lord together.
Jeff Adams
Since the big event in Latin America is Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day, we have always had our main family celebration on Christmas Eve, too. In many countries of Latin America, the tradition is to visit friends and family on Christmas Eve and perhaps end up by going to the home of the family patriarch or matriarch to eat special Christmas tamales as a late dinner. Many countries celebrate with fireworks at midnight – much like what would happen on our Fourth of July. In cities, the air fills with a gun powder cloud that hangs around for hours and the ground is littered by the paper remains of the countless thousands of fireworks that are exploded. Since it would be a bit problematic to have a massive firecracker event on Christmas Eve, our family is content to gather together at our house and eat a Mexican dinner together. No, Mexican food is not typical in the countries where we have lived, but we just happen to like Mexican food. Following dinner, I read the Luke 2 account of the birth of Jesus with the kids (now grandkids) and then we have our gift exchange.
Donivan Best
As a family, we’ve always made a birthday cake with “Happy Birthday, Jesus” on it. Our kids love mixing all the ingredients, licking the mixing spoon and icing the cake. Before we open any of our own gifts we celebrate the greatest gift ever by lighting the candles (seven of them), singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus and saying a special prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord. One of the kids cuts the cake and we gobble it up as we open our gifts. Our kids love it because it’s the only time of the year that we allow them to cake for breakfast!
Donna Bruce
Any time my Mom cooks a holiday meal, we pile plates full of food to take to elderly family and friends. It’s usually enough to feed an army. And we have been known to dish up stuffing that wasn’t even cooked yet. A couple of years ago, my 15 year-old nephew even had someone he wanted to take food to so the tradition goes on.
Jeff Cox
One of our favorite holiday traditions is to watch the 1983 movie “A Christmas Story.” There is a scene in the movie where the father, affectionately referred to as the old man, receives an award from a contest he has entered. He receives the award in the mail and upon opening the package discovers a hideously tacky lamp designed in the image of a woman’s leg wearing a stocking. His wife is appalled, but he is not discouraged and proudly displays the leg in the front living room window for all the neighbors to see. I purchased a lamp just like the one from the movie a few years back, and Deb and I proudly display this lamp in our dining room window for the enjoyment of our neighbors. Some stare in dismay, but everyone who is familiar with the movie gets a kick out of it.
Scott Gates
When I was growing up we would always go to my Grandma’s house for Christmas. All of my Dad’s family would join us there and it was usually a packed house. If it wasn’t snowing, we would go outside and play football in the yard with all my cousins and uncles. The one thing that I remember most about those days was waking up early. I mean REALLY early before the sun would pop up and we would pack in the car and drive to Grandma’s. Why so early? Because the family that got there first would call everyone one else and wake them up and rub it in that we were there first. This would wake up the whole house (as there were not cell phones on vibrate back then). So everyone would then wake up and come over. And if they didn’t answer the call it meant they were on the way and you got to see their faces as they pulled up in the drive way and you were already there. Gosh…I am glad we don’t get up that early anymore!
Jay Grimwood
Every Christmas day our family takes time to say thank you to God by writing down commitments and goals that we want to give back to Him for the following year. Each of us writes a personal letter to God and we place them in a Jesus stocking on the fireplace until we pack everything up for next year. The following Christmas season when we decorate the home, the Jesus stocking is hung on the mantle with our commitments and promises we’ve made to Christ. It is always fun to open them up on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning and see if we’ve kept our promises and commitments to God as he keeps them for us. We then thank Him for being faithful (or ask forgiveness as sometimes is necessary in my case) for keeping us on task to reach our goals for Him. We then write new letters for the following year and the cycle continues year after year.
Emily Kinch
As much as possible, we try to continue the Costa Rican tradition of making tamales for the holidays. We get together the weekend before Christmas to assemble them and cook them, then each family takes a portion and eats them for breakfast, lunch and dinner until they run out! We have a great time doing this as a family and enjoy keeping up with this Costa Rican tradition here in Kansas City.
Dale and Julie Moline
Each year right around Thanksgiving, our family shops for a 1000 piece puzzle. The card-table goes up in front of our fireplace and this project becomes a center piece for our family time during the holidays. We have constructed everything from CocaCola to Thomas Kincaid. The puzzle content is only a small part of what we look forward to. This puzzle prompts us to pause from the busyness of our lives, it grows our patience and our focus on one another. We talk, we share, we laugh and we build…There is a measure of satisfaction that comes with the placement of that last piece, but a sorrow also for the journey is over. The puzzle will be dismantled, placed back in the box and stored away in a closet of memories for days gone by. We each push away from the card-table having become richer and more connected…one piece at a time.
Tim Mensendiek
After dinner at the Mensendiek house, we open gifts then have a paper ball fight with the wrapping paper.
Summer Montgomery
My family is starting a new Christmas tradition this year. We have adopted a family with two children the same ages as our own, 4 and 2. My husband and I will be taking our kids to shop specifically for these children. Our son and daughter will be choosing the gifts to give and will help wrap them up for delivery. I pray that this tradition, through the years, will give my own children a very practical understanding of putting others’ needs and wants ahead of their own. I look forward to watching my own children learn to serve and be blessed in their giving.
Chris Ruzicka
A few years we did the Christmas Eve Candle lighting, until my Dad lit my brother Pat’s hair on fire. He smacked the top of his head in church, and Pat cried thinking he had done something wrong. I laughed and laughed and so did the other couple hundred people that always sat around us to see what would happen during church any particular year. Rarely did we disappoint.
Another tradition from the Ruzicka family, singing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve with a family that has no musical ability. Jesus, I’m sure, covered his ears every time. I cried, from laughter, every time.
Waking up at 5:00am Christmas morn and jumping into bed with Santa Claus and my Mom. Injuries started to occur when I broke the 170 pound barrier. Upon entering the living room I would discover that Santa always knew what I wanted (Michael Jackson, Thriller album), had eaten the oatmeal raison cookies, and drank all the milk, and taken one bite out of an apple, (apparently not a Biggest Loser kinda fella) while Dad held a 40 pound VCR recorder on his shoulder recording every reaction of seven beautiful children, all with the soothing sounds of Crosby, Como and Sinatra serenading us from the record player. “Medakumeekimaka” was the favorite for obvious reasons. Fireplace burning hot enough to set the stockings on fire.
Present unwrapping started around 8:00am and would last until 2:00 or 3:00, always one present at a time while everyone watched. You had to pretend you liked your presents all morning and afternoon. Around 3:00 the rest of the uncles, aunts, cousins, grandmas, and grandpa’s would show up for a full on party extravaganza consisting of food, alcohol, checking out all new merchandise, watching Christmas Vacation and playing the completely jacked game of Balderdash. More laughs than an Airplane movie, with constant ribbing and jesting. One was afraid to open ones mouth, with fear that you would have the quote that would be added to the ever increasing list of stupid comments made at Christmas. A very popular list that my Uncle’s elephant brains always remembered. My sister Kelley has the most quotes. Jen stay’s quite around my family but appreciates the ab-laughter workout.
Jeremy Schell
Every year growing up we would travel to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for our family gathering. On the day of our “program” we would all gather in their basement, near the wood-fired stove and celebrate. To start, all of the cousins would prepare something to present to the family. I would play a piano solo on their antique piano, always remembering the notes that didn’t work or were out of tune! This was usually followed by some general singing (in full 4-part harmony), and the Aunts singing “The Baby Fair,” a beautiful song about the birth of Christ. The musical portion would end with a rousing rendition of jingle bells, with each of the young cousins holding bells (and occasionally car-keys) and playing them as loudly as possible!
After music, we’d turn our attention to another tradition. Each of us, even the little ones, would recite a Bible verse from memory. Then, Grandpa would read the Christmas story from Luke 2. His deep, German voice would communicate the truth of the Word in a way that will always be in my memory. He spoke with a reverence that brought the Bible to life. The afternoon would conclude by opening presents and a “show-and tell,” then each of us would get a “toot,” a sack of candy, that always contained a homemade popcorn ball.
Alan Shelby
We open one gift on Christmas Eve. We always get the dog a toy, but he like playing in the paper. We put up a Christmas tree and a wreath on the door. We each have stockings by the fireplace. It is turkey on Thanksgiving, ham on Christmas. Dad takes the pictures while everybody opens their presents.
Sam Shockley
We have a number of family members here in the KC area and it is our family tradition to have a Christmas party every Christmas Eve. We share a meal, exchange gifts, sing traditional carols, read our family history and pray together. The evening isn’t complete until we sing the Twelve Days of Christmas. Each person is assigned one the twelve days, Mary is always the five golden rings. That has been our tradition for the last thirty three years.
