One Advent evening, while my family sat in our living room singing Christmas Carols, we were interrupted by a knock on the door. A teenager in the neighborhood, whom we only knew by sight, was collecting donations for a club. We invited him to join our singing. He chose a song from the book we handed him and stayed a bit.
I was surprised. I still debate whether I was more surprised by the quickness of his response or by the lack of self-consciousness on the part of my sons and him. After he left, I decided that our sons saw our activity as normal while I suspected that a family singing Christmas carols in early December was rare.
What about our visitor? Did he think a singing family was normal? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I remember the seamlessness of that evening because our Christmas tradition was well established. We were the makers of “normal” for our Christmas season.
What else is normal for us? A long breakfast followed by Scriptures and singing before opening presents. No travel. No Santa. Fun gifts. Jelly Bellies anyone?
What is your “normal?”
If you have something you would like to share with Mollie, please use the form below.