December 16th is David's birthday. We have some traditions that help us celebrate his influence in our family. These traditions are simple, but help us remember him and teach our children of the reason we celebrate Christmas.
We sing Happy Birthday. This year, Troy came into my bedroom first thing in the morning and sang a little solo. We sang again at morning family prayers, and then again when we served our cake dessert.
We enjoy our setup of Santa Claus figures. When David was born, our hometeachers brought some peppermint candies and reminded us that they could play Santa for us if we needed it. We've had visits from Santa before!
Leslie, Santa, and Jonas 1999
My dad and Jeanene came from Michigan as soon as they could and brought our first Santa; a Santa in a nightgown with a plate of cookies. Jeanene has collected Santas for a long time, and this was a simple reminder that they cared for us during a tender time. Over the years we have placed a Santa Claus on his grave for the Christmas season, and then kept the current Santa figure out near David's picture for the rest of the year. This helps us keep the gift of our son in our hearts all year long.
(Grovetown, GA, 2008)
*Note: We do know that the true meaning of Christmas is our Savior Jesus Christ, but a symbol of love, gift giving, and surprises can be found in Santa as well. We choose to embrace the sweetness of the season with Santa as well.
We always have the missionaries over for dinner and cake. Last year Bob and I were reunited in Texas after his deployment, and we were not able to meet up with the missionaries (although we tried). My mom graciously accepted this assignment for us and had the missionaries over with my children. We plan ahead so that no one else gets our coveted dinner date of December 16th! The missionaries always leave a spiritual thought, and last night they reminded us of the plan of salvation. Our Heavenly Father's plan seems too good to be true, but IT IS TRUE! It is not a fairy tale. It really is a plan of "happily ever after", and whatever we "give up" will be compensated to the infinite degree if we are faithful and righteous.
I love our simple yet meaningful traditions that help us celebrate our third child's birthday even though he is not here on earth with us. However, we do look forward to giving him his birthday hugs during the Millennium!
3 comments:
What a beautiful tribute to your precious little son. I love how you expressed your love and faith. With tears rolling down my cheeks I add an amen to your comments.
those are wonderful traditions Dresden.
So sweet. I bet Troy's solo was beautiful :)
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