Tradition!

Fiddler on the Roof is one of my all-time favorite musicals. It is passionate, sweet, and sentimental; I always grieve with Tevye as each attempt to cling to tradition is thwarted and unappreciated. I love traditions and think that they are an important part of a family's togetherness and memory-building experience. But just like Tevye, I think that sometimes (particularly around Christmastime) we can overemphasize traditions' importance.



Yes, have your cookie baking, gingerbread house making, tree decorating, festival going traditions! And enjoy every moment of them, capturing them with pictures upon pictures! But don't place such stock in them that you miss out on other opportunities to love or serve if the opportunity arises. And don't be so inflexible that your traditions can't morph or change: Sometimes a sacrifice in the moment may become a favorite memory later on! :)