Christmas is a time of traditions. Ask anyone who celebrates Christmas and they will tell you exactly how they celebrate each and every year.

I recently got asked the question of how people celebrate Christmas in England for a friend who was doing a school project. It brought back a lot of memories and traditions that I have always observed during Christmas.

In 2005 when I moved to the USA, those yearly December traditions started to become December memories. I now lived in a foreign country where people did ‘Christmas’ differently from the homeland. Now I was married and my wife Raquel had very different Christmas traditions than I did and also I was in ‘my’ home, not my parents home, which changed the feel of the season.

Some people maybe horrified by the thought of not following their traditions at Christmas. Some believe Christmas is not Christmas unless they put their tree up the day after Thanksgiving while another has to put their tree up the week before Christmas Day. However, I have found that doing something different at Christmas is a wonderful experience. The first time I spent Christmas with my in-laws was a totally different experience. It involved celebrating on Christmas Eve and staying up into the early hours of Christmas Day eating, laughing and opening presents. It felt strange, but it was still a great Christmas experience.

People often live and die by their traditions. Whether it is at Christmas or how we do church! I like some traditions, but I have realized that traditions while give us a ‘nice’ feeling on the inside, can in fact stop us from experiencing a whole new world. I challenge you this year to maybe do one thing different from what you do every year. I am not saying get rid of your traditions, but do not let them stop you from discovering new things!