The simplest way, specially if we won't get to see
each other in person would be to write a card or a letter. Instead of a simple,
"Happy Birthday to you!", why not take the time to say something more
meaningful. Let's thank them and express our love and appreciation for them. Relate
specific examples of instances when you were specially thankful for them. Let them
know that they are not taken for granted and that we appreciate them.
For families that have the privilege of getting
together, why not have a special honoring program, with everyone taking turns to say
something, greeting and hugging or kissing him or her afterwards. After everyone
gets their turn, the celebrant gets to respond, usually with thanks and expressions of
love and affection in return. For Christians, it would be good to end with a prayer,
with everyone laying their hands on the celebrant.
There are various ways, other than the
straightforward honoring that you can also try. You can try to think of something which
the celebrant is interested in and include it in your honoring program. For example, one
time we honored a friend who was very much into aerobics. So we did an
aerobic-inspired honoring for her - we did a few aerobic dance steps (complete with
costumes and music) in between honoring her and honored her with words which related to
aerobics, like strength, perseverance, flexibility, etc, giving specific examples from our
experiences with her in everyday life.
For someone who loves flowers, we can start out by
reading a poem or saying something about the beauty of flowers, then after each one gives
an honoring, giving her a flower until she has a whole bouquet in the end. Or how
about the theme of the celebrant being a treasure and each one comparing her to different
gems or precious stones.
An Honoring Scrapbook: Last
October 17 was my mom-in-law's 70th birthday and we gave her a scrapbook of more than 70
pages (our goal was 70 pages, but we came up with more). Each page was made by a
different person - family and friends wrote letters, made collages, quoted poems, made
poems, made pop-up cards, drawings, watercolors, all sorts. Even family members
abroad sent pages through e-mail and we printed them out to include in the scrapbook.
One of my best friends is an obstetrician and for
her 50th birthday, we gave her a scrapbook with at least 50 pages, each page with
something from one of the kids she helped come into the world (one of them being my
daughter!). It included pictures of the kids when they were babies,
their most recent pictures, something they drew or wrote, and something their
mommies wrote to honor her.
Table settings: Make a
special place setting for the celebrant: use the best china, silverware, placemat and
table napkins. Or, you can also have a special colorful set used only for the
celebrant on his or her special day.
New Years Day
Valentines Day
Easter
The hare and the egg are ancient symbols of the return of life after
Winter's sleep and today are associated with Easter, the Christian celebration of Christ's
resurrection. Easter eggs are supposed to remind us that "That which appears to
be still and dead in fact contains new life".
Our family always celebrates Easter with an Easter egg hunt. The day
before Easter, we all gather around the dining table and decorate more than a hundred eggs
in a variety of ways. Among the many ways of decorating Easter
eggs, my favorite is crayon resist.
We also make flags, banners and other decorations to
place all over the garden. In the eggs, as well as in all our other decorations we
include the symbols of the cross, candle, wheat, water, lily, and words such as
Hallelujah, He is risen, and Christ our light.
Halloween
Although we don't celebrate halloween, an idea to
consider for halloween is to dress up in costumes of angels, saints and biblical
characters instead of the usual witches and ghosts. After all, Halloween is really
the eve of All Saints day. We tried this once and when we dressed up in these
"holy" costumes, the kids enjoyed it just as much, and learned something as
well. I came as Jochebed. "Who in the world is Jochebed?", everyone
asked. I showed them my basket box with a baby doll inside and they realized I was
supposed to be the mother of Moses.
Thanksgiving
Advent & Christmas
Advent is a time of
preparation. It is the period including the four Sundays before Christmas.
Advent wreath- This
is a tabletop wreath with 4 candles. One candle is lit each Sunday of advent, until
all four candles are lit as we celebrate Christ's birth. There are prayers that can be
said and songs that can be sung to go with the lighting of the candles.
Advent calendar - Use advent calendars
to make a countdown to Christmas. You can make one yourself.
Baby Jesus with paper offerings for hay - If you have a small figurine of the baby Jesus, you can use it
for this activity. Put the figurine in a box or tray to serve as the manger.
Beside it put a container with small strips of paper (like hay, but big enough to write
on). During advent, each member of the family writes down something on a strip of
paper which he offers to the Lord, and places the strip of paper under the figure of the
baby Jesus. The more offerings, the softer the bed of Jesus. Offerings may be
anything like sharing toys for the kids, or being patient for mom.
Christmas tree ornaments - one way to put the ornaments in the Christmas tree would also be to put
each ornament one at a time as a symbol of an offering you're making to the Lord or as a
blessing you are thankful for.
Sharing Christmas
