On the Second Day of Christmas

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

If "my true love gave to me" has already popped into your head, congratulations!  Your musical memory is alive and well, even though we've heard "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for the last time this year. Technically, however, today is the second day of Christmas, so in that spirit I thought we'd take a second look at Christmas past.

I can get a little nostalgic thinking about Southern Writers' first Christmas, in 2011.  It was an exciting time of promise, adventure, and new friendships with authors and each other.  One thing I remember fondly was that, for the month of December, every day on this Suite T blog was devoted to a different "gift".

These classic posts are a little hard to find, unless you go looking for them.  So I went looking for them.

The Gift of a Writing Partner by Kelli Zaniel
The Gift of a Reader by Shannon Milholland
The Gift of Counting the Cost by Doyne Phillips
The Gift of a Time Out by Gary Fearon
The Gift of Time by Susan Reichert
The Gift of Humor by Jenny B. Jones
The Gift of Great Food by Shannon Milholland (includes recipes by authors and the SW staff!)
The Gift of a New Beginning by Doyne Phillips
The Gift of Gab by Gary Fearon
The Gift You Get When You Give by Susan Reichert
The Gift of Mystery by Sandra Balzo
The Gift of...Gifts by Shannon Milholland
The Gift of Great Art by Doyne Phillips
The Gift of Music by Gary Fearon
The Gift of Poetry by Susan Reichert
The Gift of a Family Heritage by Renee Rowell
The Gift of Leadership by Londa Hayden
The Gift of Hope Deferred by Doyne Phillips
The Gift of Goals by Gary Fearon
The Gift of a New Year by Susan Reichert
The Gift of a Rich Childhood by Sarah Loudin Thomas
The Gift of FREE Marketing by Jessica Ferguson

Maybe one or more of those "gifts" will resonate with you on this second day of Christmas, which, by the way, is immortalized in another yuletide chestnut.  December 26 is the "Feast of Stephen" mentioned in the song "Good King Wenceslas".  I hope you'll "feast" on the joys of the season still to come, and will continue to celebrate all the way up to that twelfth day of Christmas, on January 5th.

Now that it's stuck in your head, feel free to hum "Good King Wencelas" today. (If you know the words, I'm impressed.)

The Gift of Family Heritage

by Renee Rowell 

On December 14, 2001, my in-laws celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary. Like most young couples just starting out, they didn't have much, so their wedding was very simple. He wore a simple suit instead of a tuxedo. She wore a simple skirt and jacket instead of a wedding dress. There was no reception to speak of; just well wishes of close family and friends as they began their new life together.

The year before, my husband and I, along with his three siblings and their spouses, began talking about and planning for the celebration. We decided to give them the reception they never had. To be held at their church in the fellowship hall, I was given the task of decorating the room. There were the traditional holiday trimmings, all reflective of a golden anniversary; gold wreaths on all the windows, Christmas greenery on the tables, gold glitter candles on the guest book table. 

But, there was one display that really put into perspective what the celebration was really all about. 

My mother-in-law had amassed quite a collection of family photos over the years, and I really wanted to come up with a unique way to display them. As part of the decorating scheme, I had purchased a set of two white, spiral LED Christmas trees. At first, I wasn’t exactly sure just what to do with them…then it hit me.

I placed the trees on a table in the back of the room and asked my oldest son and my niece to begin attaching all of the family photos to them using red and green ribbon looped onto ornament hangers.  After the photos were hung, we turned the tree lights on. How beautiful they were! Standing back and looking at the photos in the glow of the tree lights, one could begin to see a story unfold; a legacy of life and love that has been passed from generation to generation.

In moments like these, especially during the holidays, it's a little bit easier to be thankful for our family, even amidst some of the drama and hectic last minute preparations. But...what if we went a little deeper? What if we didn't stop at being thankful? What if we actually considered the legacy we are building? What if we understood that our words and actions toward our family are building blocks in the foundation of our legacy and a springboard for them as they live out their own legacy?

As we approach the new year, let's consider the words of Jesus, "As I have loved you, so you love another."  If you have a heritage of love, you have the opportunity to regift that love to the next generation. If you don’t, why not establish a new family tradition through the written and spoken word that becomes a living diary of love?

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Renee is a 2011 Proverbs 31 Ministries She Speaks graduate and has been happily married to her husband, David, for 25 years.  They have two sons; their oldest is currently serving overseas in the Air Force, and their youngest graduated high school earlier this year and is working towards college. Her husband is Director of Worship and Media at their church, and in addition to serving alongside him and blogging, she is currently writing her first book. You can connect with her on Twitter or her blog.