Memories and Traditions

My Sister and I celebrating Holidays as children

Holidays are a time for family traditions and memories. While growing up, my sister and I created many memories while learning our family traditions, including Easter. We attended Easter worship wearing new dresses, hair bonnets, and white patent leather shoes. We had fun dying eggs and participating in church Egg Hunts. Before church, we received our Easter baskets, complete with a chocolate Easter bunny. As we grew older, we went to sunrise services and had a big breakfast at church. In the late afternoon, we would head out to our grandmother's home in the country and have a meal with her and our cousins. I don't remember the specifics of what we ate, but I am positive that it was great food!

As I've grown into an adult, I've started to develop my own traditions. Being a youth- worker in a church puts a slightly different spin on my traditions, as the traditions of my congregation I work and worship at become my own. My work traditions have become facilitating worship experiences, Easter Egg Hunts, and Sunday morning breakfast for everyone else. Then, I often end up at a late-lunch at someone's home and enjoy the meal. Yet, each year, I make cinnamon rolls, whether it's for myself or to share with others.

This year, Easter was different. We didn't gather together in corporate worship, have meals with all of our extended family, or have church Easter hunts and breakfasts. We worshiped online, we held Easter festivities with our own families in our homes, and found ways to make the day meaningful to us. The day certainly made me recollect my own childhood and adult memories, causing me to appreciate those things that I love about Easter even more. While I was not able to do some things, like go to dinner at my friend's home, I was able to make my own cinnamon rolls and a late afternoon meal, that included using a sausage ball recipe from my own high-school youth leader!

As we move into Spring and Summer, many of our traditions may look different, creating new memories for us to ponder in the years to come. Not carrying through with certain traditions might be hard for some of our family members. Remember to give each other the grace needed to embrace the change associated with social distancing. Things might look and feel different for a while, and that's okay. During my global missions year in England, I learned a phrase, "It's not wrong. It's just different." Figuring carry-on with our traditions, while trying to keep memories intact of our favorite holidays, is going to feel wrong. But I encourage you to think- it's just a different way of making memories this year!

What are some of your favorite Spring Holiday traditions?

4 comments

DeannaApril 15, 2020 at 5:28 PM
Aww I love family traditions. We used to get Easter clothes too and chocolate bunnies. We didn't like to eat the bunnies, but we always expected them in our basket.
Lizzie MApril 15, 2020 at 6:41 PM
This is a great way to approach the differences in our lives right now! I'm doing my best to try to maintain normalcy, but it's also okay if some things have to change!
Christy DuBoisApril 17, 2020 at 5:23 PM
I feel sure this time in our lives will be remembered. Some will remember it negatively while others positively. In saying that I do not mean the numbers of sick and dying or have died, I’m only talking about the time spent at home. My youngest daughter that is a senior at ole miss came home after the campus closed because I felt much better with her here than alone in oxford with all the uncertainty. It has been a long time since she has been home for this period of time and I have certainly enjoyed it.
tat2gurlzrockApril 17, 2020 at 5:35 PM
Easter was def different at our house this year as well. No candy, no ham but we did quit a bit of grilling :)