Holidays: Thriving, Not Just Surviving (Part 1)

It was a simple mistake. A miscalculation. A wrong assumption. And it was my fault.

We were packing and preparing to move overseas. Shipping a container was not an option in this landlocked country. Whatever we took on the plane was all we would get. We had to plan and prioritize what we would bring. There were lots of difficult decisions.

We packed as light as we could pack, removing anything we felt was not essential. I began pulling out anything I felt we could survive without. Then I made a decision I regret. The holiday decorations would not go with us.

I really thought the decorations would not be that important to us. We are a pretty adventurous and creative family, so I thought we could work around the lack of decorations.

When we arrived, the Christmas season came quickly. And I realized my mistake. Christmas has only been a holiday here for a few years, so no one knows anything about it… and decorations are extremely limited. It makes for great opportunities to teach what Christmas is really about, and our church takes full advantage of those opportunities. But it does not feel as festive here. Okay,… it does not feel like Christmas at all here!

In the States, every store, every street, every house had some sort of decoration. I did not have to decorate my home to still get the Christmas atmosphere… it was everywhere you looked! But here… the closest thing we saw was a hideous, skinny mannequin with a dirty, old Santa costume. The beard looked like something Goodwill would not even accept! It looked like something off of a horror film.

So, I realized my mistake. We missed those familiar holiday sights, and our family holiday traditions were a bigger deal to us than I had calculated. Without our family and friends in the States, it would be a challenge to overcome, but I do not want our family to just survive the holidays… I want them to thrive and look forward to these special times.

So, I started making a plan…

1. I identified the holidays that were most important to our family.

Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day, Resurrection Sunday (Easter), Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and birthdays were on the list.

2. I identified what traditions or characteristics made it feel more like that holiday to each of the family members.

Some of the things were actually quite surprising. It was not the tree that made it feel like Christmas. It was anticipation and excitement. It was sights and smells. For New Year’s, it was the countdown!

3. I did some research on things that might be confusing to the people in this country.

The people here ring bells to wake up their gods; so, having jingle bells for Christmas is probably not a good idea. They have a festival of lights near the Christmas season where they decorate with Christmas lights. So, using Christmas lights would possibly make many of them think we, too, celebrate Tihar. Nativity scenes? They look like idols. We just do not want to do anything that would confuse the people about who we worship. It just is not worth taking the chance with some things. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are a little tougher. They celebrate those days here, but it includes worship.

4. I began to inventory what was available to us.

That first Christmas, I had barely figured out where to buy food… much less craft or school supplies! But after that Christmas, the search was on! I hate to shop, but I was on a mission. And this mission is still going on today. I am always on the lookout for something that could be used for a holiday. And not just in stores either. Pinterest has become a good friend. And we rarely throw away things that can be turned into something else. That is how I came up with 50 toilet paper rolls for our July 4^th celebration!

5. I began hunting for new family traditions.

Sometimes old family traditions cannot be duplicated in a new place. Instead of mourning the loss of those traditions, our family has purposed in our hearts to treasure those memories, while pursuing creating new, exciting memories. We like to think outside the box.

6. We have looked for new friends to celebrate holidays with… whether it be other missionaries, or nationals who are familiar with the American holiday.

Chances are that there is someone who would love to learn some of those family traditions. Or maybe it is another missionary family who is feeling the loss of family and friends during the holidays.

7. We (as well as our family and friends in the States) began brainstorming different ways we could still celebrate together.

It is amazing how we have been able to still feel connected on the holidays. It is not the same as sitting around the Thanksgiving table together, but it definitely gives us something to look forward to.



And that is the key. Our family needs something to look forward to. We do not want to dread the holidays, pining away over what we have lost. We want to keep moving forward, not looking back. We want to create happy memories. 

So, let’s get practical…

To Be Continued