So, it is coming the snow, the cold, the blowing, the sledding, and more. Winter is another fun time of year for us that live in the north. Maybe at your house you enjoy hot chocolate by a warm fire in the evenings like our family. We also love having hot meals and warm fresh baked bread in the winter. Lots of breads, zucchini, pumpkin, and more. We enjoy time with family staying in our warm house when the wind is cold and the air is crisp. We enjoy sledding and building snowmen, and all the fun of the winter season.
But one thing we do not do during the winter month is celebrate or observe the Catholic holiday of Christmas. Often people are so surprised that our family doesn’t observe this day as a religious day. Before I share a little more on why our family chooses not to observe this day as a day to celebrate, I want to make it clear that this is our families personal beliefs. We teach our children to respect others beliefs and when they are old enough they can prayerfully choose their own beliefs. But maybe you have been wondering why we don’t keep Christmas as a special day. I have wrote blogs on this topic in the past, and you can go back and read them, but for this post I am going to share a little about my husband’s view on this matter.
When my husband, Jeremy, and I got married, he almost every Christmas and Easter questioned me on where these holidays were in the Bible. He never quite understood what a man in a red suit had to do with a Christian holiday or a bunny that laid eggs. So, we came to a compromise (because I never really cared for the commercial side of the holidays anyway), we would stick to the scriptures at holiday times. No Santa, no Easter bunny, no tooth fairy, and no lying to our children. When we began having children, Jeremy really started wondering what parts of holidays were what God wanted us to do. Then our children also began asking questions as they got older about holidays and how we knew when Jesus was born, and why is Easter called Easter and not Passover.
Well, we didn’t have all the answers, but we started in our own home several years ago giving to the poor at holidays instead of to each other. Then finally due to the internet we began to understand that Christmas and Easter were actually no different than Halloween. They were not truly Bible holidays. Jeremy read some Catholic documents that made him realize that it was not about Jesus at first. After reading these documents he said to me, why do we celebrate these days, we are not Catholic. I will admit at first I didn’t think it mattered if they were Catholic in root or not, because it was about what it meant to me that mattered. If I said Christmas was about my Savior’s birth than that was good enough. If Easter was about His death and resurrection in my heart than that was good enough. So, we again compromised for a few more years. We did less and less for these Catholic holidays, always focusing on church, family, and Jesus. But about five years ago, we found an amazing discovery. We found in the Bible that God already made holidays that He wants His people to celebrate for all eternity. When we realized this, our whole mindset change, and we were in agreement. God already had set apart, special holidays to celebrate Him and His Son. We both realized it did not matter what our hearts wanted, but instead it mattered what God asked of us. So, for our family that means we do not celebrate holidays made up by the Catholic church, but rather we celebrate Holy Days set apart by a Holy and Perfect God.
If you would like to see the documents written by the Catholic church about holidays here is a link.
(i had hoped to post the actual articles from the Catholic Encyclopedia but was unable to get the links to work, but if you go to the library it is very easy to find Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and even Sunday worship in the Catholic church articles. The Catholic church even claims that anyone who attends church on Sunday is actually Catholic even if they do not know it. In their articles they state that anyone who attends church on Sunday is under the Pope.)
If you would like to learn about God’s Holy Days here is a free book.
So, this Friday we are expecting snow. Fall is my favorite time of year, but I love the first snow fall too.
I got my chocolate mix ready and the mini marshmallows too. I am looking forward to baking next week. And of course, a great way to start the winter season is with an attitude of gratitude as we gather together with family to celebrate Thanksgiving. So enjoy your winter, even if you are in toasty Florida or California. Blessings and Shalom.
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