Family Traditions

Tonight I got to attend a Mom's gathering through our church, called Mom2Mom - it was WONDERFUL. Jacob had the awesome sitter we found (also through our church) who he loves - I got home and he was sound asleep in his little bed - Mama heart melt! 

Anyway, I had several great hours being with other women who are also mothers, sharing, learning, laughing, and just being women! It was so refreshing and such a blessing. Again I'm reminded of the blessing of a family of faith to journey with and we are so grateful the Lord lead us to Normandale Baptist Church!

Our hostess for the evening was a mother of 4 whose children are years ahead of mine in their journeys - ranging in age from 19 to 30 - and it was so beneficial to learn from her and her years of experience as a mother. The topic for the evening was "the importance of family traditions". One of the key points we took away is how a tradition can be simple yet so very powerful in the life of a child and family. We shared various traditions from our families growing up and things we now do with our own families (or things we would like to do). The hostess gave us each a great gift - a small, 4x6 photo album to put pictures (or just writings) of our family traditions! I got home and knew that I should just sit and create mine... or that days, weeks, or even years might go by and I would find the empty album and be filled with regret. There are a few traditions Josh and I have already implemented with Jacob, some that we've talked about, and others I gleaned from tonight or from other family members. I look forward to sharing with Josh and altering, adding, and implementing these traditions into our family. 

Some of the points from the lesson were that traditions: (1) create a harbor of love and safety for children in their home/family, (2) can be shared with other children (friends of your children), (3) can be spontaneously created or planned in advance, (4) can be related to your faith journey/spiritual life or can seem more secular but usually have a spiritual lesson.

Here's our Bruffey Family Traditions book in the making. I already think of things to add or change, so we'll see how it evolves!

~ Mama Bruffey

Wife of One, Mother of Two