Celebrations
AND
Stones story by Laura Lindblom
This time of the year is possibly my favorite. Admittedly, I love this whole season, from Thanksgiving to the New Year, and experience what some might term a childish excitement as the festivities begin to take place. I love the little rituals, the baking of pies and laying of the table at Thanksgiving, lighting the Advent candles and listening to cherished Christmas albums, hunting for a Christmas tree and filling the house with a festive glow of hope and joy. So many of my fondest memories take place in the period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, from those childhood memories of Christmas in the Hills at my grandparents’ home, to a certain question asked on bended knee by my now husband, to sitting in a 100-yearold barn on a frigid December night with my husband and tiny 5-week-old baby swaddled in blankets and sheepskin, as Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus at a live Nativity last year. So many of my favorite family times have been interwoven with the traditions and customs that became part of the fabric of my family.
With a precious 1-year-old and a husband I adore, that seasonal delight has only intensified, the desire to build something meaningful and beautiful that will form the backdrop of my little girl’ s childhood, the backdrop of our family life. Even though the world around us goes crazy with all the frivolous and self-centered consumerism that has become the unfortunate hallmark of the American Thanksgiving-to-Christmas season, there is so much to embrace and to firmly fix in our lives that fills this whole season with light and hope and joy. We set aside a day to remember God ' s goodness and thank Him for His blessings, and then we intentionally fix our eyes on the hope, love, joy, and peace that the Advent season remembers, culminating in a quiet yet extraordinary gathering in a stable in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.
In a culture that increasingly tries to erase all evidence of the Christian faith from public expressions during these historically overtly Christian holidays, it is more important than ever that families rally themselves around traditions that draw our eyes Heavenward.
I think of the traditions my family had growing up... We had our big family Thanksgiving, usually shared with someone from our church, and in the next few days afterwards, we would usher in the Advent season by putting up our Christmas tree in a nod to the tradition credited to Martin Luther’ s snowy, starlit, forested journey 500 years ago. Out would come all the old decorations, the lights, and the treasured Advent books we would read year after year as a family. I think of the Christmas programs at church, the traditional songs and hymns, the somber and joyful candlelight services we would attend at my grandparents’ church, The Little White Church in Hill City. I think of our Christmas morning Bible reading, reading through Luke ' s account of the birth of Christ.
22 Down Country Roads November / December 2026