The holiday traditions. We all have them, either rooted in past memories or made fresh once again as the chaotic schedule of the holidays embrace the comfort of familiarity surrounding by family and friends. Most of us grew up with some sort of holiday traditions, adapted as families expand and redefined in our own households, ready to be passed on to future generations.
As we enter Thanksgiving week and march towards the Christmas season, NewReleaseTuesday.com welcomed artists to share with us their holiday traditions. Over 20 artists responded and we had fun relating to the routines of so many artists' families. See what artists celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas like yours and then post your own traditions below in the comments.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas from your friends at NRT!
tobyMac: We go to Jamaica for Christmas because that’s where our family is from. So Jamaica on the cheap and Christmas with our family always works!
Chris Tomlin: I love watching It's A Wonderful Life with my mom. When we were young, my brothers and I loved watching Emmitt Otter's Jugband Christmas with my dad. Now I have started my own tradition of listening to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens each year.
MercyMe (Robby Shaffer): One thing that our family loved trying to do each year was to drive around town and look at Christmas lights. After a few years, we knew exactly where the best lights and displays were. We would pile in our minivan, throw a Christmas tape in the deck and cruse around for hours. Afterwards, I remember my mom staying up late to finish wrapping presents. Then we would get up, take some pictures, open presents and my grandparents would make the rounds and see what all the grand children had received for Christmas. Then we would pile in the car and go to my grandparents for family Christmas and dinner.
MercyMe (Jim Bryson): Since my Dad was the pastor of our church, our family hosted dinners. Every year it was 30 or more people with the great smells of spiced tea, fresh brewed coffee, hot fresh rolls and a huge roast fresh out of the oven. It was just a great time of fellowship and great food.
Plumb: We always eat breakfast with our church community very early on Thanksgiving morning and then have a photo made. Jeremy and I began this the year we started dating and have not missed a year yet. So 2011 will be our 13th year that we've participated and hope to do so forever. We then cut down our Christmas tree the following morning as a family and spend that lazy weekend decorating and just being together. We also spend Christmas Eve Eve (the night before Christmas Eve) at my husband's family's and pretend it's Christmas Eve. We get up Christmas Eve and act like it's Christmas Day and have Christmas, because it allows us all to be together every year and not miss out on going to our own indiviual Christmas Eve services at our different places of worship. It also allows us to spend actual Christmas Day at our home. We always celebrate advent with the calendar and on Christmas Day we have Christ's candle and the story of His birth read before anyone opens anything. We always give Christmas to someone else and keep our gift giving to a minimum as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about. This way, our kids know the story of St. Nicholas but we don't promote Santa other than the photo we have taken at the local mall for the sake of festiveness.
Sara Groves: My family does advent the whole month of December leading up to Christmas, and it's a very special time for us.
NewSong (Matt Butler): Growing up, Christmas was always about the whole family being together, extended family— both sides. My family is pretty spread out too, from Michigan, to Georgia, to Chicago, to Tennessee, to Indiana and Idaho. No matter though, we always manage to get everyone together. Everything stops--work, touring, school, shopping--and we all pack into one house. Great grandparents to grandkids, and everyone in between. We have a crazy 2-3 day celebration. But a specific tradition? At some point I always find my way to my parents’ old upright piano that I learned to play on. Soon my kids and all their cousins gather and dance around like lunatics while I play music from the Charlie Brown Christmas special.
Anthem Lights (Caleb Grimm): Rather than have a big traditional Christmas dinner with a ham or a turkey every year, my family always goes crazy with finger foods. For me, it wouldn't be Christmas dinner without cheese dip and boneless wings!
Jessa Anderson: I always love pulling the decorations out of storage and putting them up as a family. It's fun to spend time together celebrating, especially when you get to sentimental or hand-made decorations and tree ornaments. It's always fun to look back on the previous years and rejoice over God's blessings together!
JJ Heller: I love baking! I'm looking forward to trying out some new recipes this year and I'm hoping to find some new Christmas dessert staples. I might even try to make some fudge sauce to give away as gifts this year.
FFH (Jeromy Deibler): My favorite holiday tradition involves my mom's parents and Christmas Eve. For as long as I can remember, Mom's side of the family has been gathering together the evening before Christmas to have dinner and exchange gifts. Before gifts are opened, Pa Paw, who is a giant of a man, retells the Christmas story, and we sit at his feet. Then we all sing, and he plays harmonica. It's idyllic. I was the first grandchild, so I remember when it was just me and my mom and her sisters and Ma Maw and Pa Paw. If everyone is there this year, there will be 29 of us including great grandkids.
Benjah: Gathering with my loved ones around the fireplace eating amazing food and laughing about old stories!
Matt Brouwer: Our family has several unique traditions at Christmas time. One of them is that we open our presents on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas morning we open our stockings, which are filled with smaller more practical gifts like socks and toothpaste. After dinner on Christmas Eve we would all gather around the tree that had gifts hiding under the branches, and my Mom would get us to sing Christmas carols and then she would read the Christmas story. Finally, she would lead us in a prayer. When I was little, the entire ordeal of singing, reading, and praying seemed to drag on and on. I used to think that my Mom was purposefully being mean, making us wait on the edge of our seats like that. I was so preoccupied with thinking about what I might find under the tree that the real message and meaning of Christmas was lost somewhere in the far reaches of my childlike mind.
Years have passed and things have changed a lot. None of those gifts under the trees through the years have ever had any lasting impact on my life. But when we gather together to celebrate Christmas every year now, the one thing I look forward to the most is the thing I used to hate the most: the time we spend singing and sharing how much the gift of God means to us. Now, we share moments of worship and prayer for Hope in a tired and desperate world. The years have proved His faithfulness in our lives in light of our constant need for redemption and comfort, and those times have become so much more rich and important to me. I guess it means I'm growing up a little.
John Schlitt: One of my favorites is Thanksgiving dinner because usually all of my family is with me, with the exception of John, my son, who lives in Phoenix. But my children and grandchildren are there, and we have a big traditional dinner, which I love! Dorla, my wife, is an amazing cook! That really is a fantastic time for me. Then there is Christmas Eve, followed by Christmas Day when the family gathers together again. I can’t think of a happier time for me or my wife Dorla. We just love being together with everyone. Those are by far the two most important times of the holiday season.
No Other Name (Laura): They probably all revolve around food! I've got some crazy good cooks in my family, and during the holidays, we pull out all the stops. Thanksgiving means sweet potato casserole and Mom's homemade pumpkin pies. Christmas means a ham and Dad's turnip greens. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!
Nathan Tasker: I’m originally from Australia so some of my favorite holiday traditions involve a cold Christmas lunch (salad, seafood etc), games of backyard cricket (a national pastime!) and then a drive to the beach for a dip in the ocean. Obviously none of these traditions translate well to my current home in Nashville! Anyone up for a game of backyard cricket on Christmas Day?
Jason Bare: I love when the holidays arrive! My wife and I love to throw on old classic Christmas music, put up the tree and bake some cookies! This used to happen around Thanksgiving every year but it has started earlier and earlier every year since we’ve been married. We usually start this around the first week of November now… But at this rate, we’re going to be decorating before Independence day! We love to spend time with our family and friends throughout this time of year as well! From shopping all night on “Black Friday” to sitting around the table enjoying our favorite holiday meals, there’s no better way to feel the spirit of Christmas!
Matt Papa: I grew up in north Georgia out in the country and each year, in a town nearby called Rabbittown (seriously), we would go see Christmas lights. There was a steet in Rabbittown where people would go all out with Christmas lights, and since it was Rabbittown, there was nothing off limits to light up. People would put Christmas lights on Ford F-150s, bathtubs, other people and refrigerators. It was a Christmas classic.
The Sonflowerz (Becca): Every year, we listen to the Queen’s speech. Our Mom is British, so it's always been important to her to hear Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas message. I remember as a kid, my parents would try hard to find the right radio frequency to hear her. Now it’s just a click away with the BBC online!
David Ian: One of my absolute favorite holiday traditions growing up was going Christmas caroling with my church youth group. Of course, despite calling it a youth group, this group generally consisted of people from the age of 10 to 65. We would pile into the church van and make our rounds to all the members' homes in our small church circle. Everyone who knew how to play an instrument would bring it along--everything from trumpets and clarinets to violins. All of our visits would inevitably crash a family gathering and the hosts would welcome us in for a desert spread that they already had laid out. Sometimes I think we did it for all the treats. These rounds would go on until the wee hours of the morning by which time the sugar overload was inevitable, the snow had turned to ice and our hand warmers couldn't hang on any longer. It was glorious!
Cortni: I always enjoy Christmas Eve when me and my brother open presents at my house with mom, dad, grandma and grandpa. On Christmas day, I love going to grandmas and spending time with the family!
Andrew Greer: Growing up, my parents, brothers and I reserved the first Monday after Thanksgiving to retrieve a Christmas tree from the local Lutheran church's tree stand, break out our perennial favorite Christmas CD's, cook up some good food and make jolly! That kickoff to the season, plus our annual Christmas Eve festivities: boiled shrimp feast, candlelight service featuring The Greer Family Ringers (handbells, y'all) and post-service house party made the season especially bright.
Mosaic: One of our favorite holiday traditions as a group is to hold an annual Secret Santa among the members of Mosaic. Considering that there are only five of us and given the fact that we are around each other almost constantly, pulling off Secret Santa is a bit of a challenge. But the challenge is what makes it so much fun because we have to be VERY secretive and sneaky.
NEXT WEEK (11/29):
