Family Traditions

 This time of year…with the rain coming in, nights getting darker, the air getting cooler, days getting quicker…I can’t help but get excited for Christmas. And with the fast approaching days of the Christmas season come the thoughts and dreams of family traditions. Stockings hung by the fireplace, decorating the tree, singing Christmas carols around the piano or jamming out to a Pentatonix Christmas album in the car. My heart sparkles at the thought of cheesy Christmas movies or books by the fire’s glow…warm cups of cocoa made just right…my favorite decorations we put out every year (like the Christmas villages with their sparkling lights!). I think about the foods that warm our bellies every Christmas morning, the soft pjs full of Christmas cheer that we don each Christmas eve…and most of all, I think of the beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve service which reminds us of our savior, His miraculous conception, and the beautiful and gracious gift of His birth. 

As I reflect on these traditions - of which I look forward to every year - my mind floats to the other, daily, repeated, patterns that say something about our family. The ones found in the mundane, daily tasks of our every day. The dirty smoothie cups by the sink, the empty coffee cups on the counter, the broom in the corner of the Kitchen, books stacked by the couch, Bibles under the coffee table, chore charts on the fridge, music in our car, laundry baskets, music stands, dinner menus, and family calendars. These little idiosyncrasies of our families, our daily habits and routines, say something about who we are and the culture of our family. 

As a young adult, my life is full of evidence of the families that have shaped me. I say families (plural) because I am blessed to have been formed and shaped by several family cultures. Of course, my Komarek Fam Bam, with whom I lived for the first 17 years of my life. They continue to shape, inspire and teach me. But also my church family, my college roommates (who I still live with), and my adopted family in Oregon. 

My kitchen alone is plentiful evidence of the influence of those closest to me in my life. The other day I was standing in the kitchen of my first post grad apartment and I looked around to see a ninja bullet cup with dried smoothie bits soaking to the right of the sink, a Neil Med nasal rinse bottle drying in the drain rack, a gallon of distilled water on the countertop and my yeti cup by the coffee station. These simple kitchen items told a story of my time with my Oregon family this summer. They introduced me to the sinus nasal rinse, which inspired my regular purchasing of distilled water. I learned how to make homemade almond milk from my adopted Oregon Mama when I finally cut out oats and sugar. I started making smoothies with collagen and a gut supplement every morning, which helped solve my issue of what in the world do I eat in the morning to get some protein that isn’t just my dinner reheated? And I had some of the best pour over coffee of my life at their house, which inspired me to become a more regular coffee drinker (for better or for worse lol).

Another look around my kitchen, perhaps with a little more vigor and depth, reveals other influences. Socks in the freezer, put there temporarily to prep for a homeopathic wet sock treatment before bed (as influenced over much time by my granola girl roommate). Essential oils on the edge of the counter and rosemary taken from the bush by our old house. An unused tampon with a sharpie smiley face now sits at the top of our Christmas tree (though it moves from hiding place to hiding place around the apartment as a joke). A chore chart on the fridge, in an attempt to bring together four busy gals in keeping a clean and functionable home. An assortment of vitamins and supplements, plentiful mugs, and our constantly used Britta stand as reminders of the value of holistic health, warm community, and hydration in our house. Silly notes on the fridge and drawings on our “family” calendar reveal the goofy but overflowing love in our household. 

A third scan of my kitchen reveals the first, constant, and overflowing influence of my Komarek family. A goofy photo of my sister on the fridge, homemade wash clothes and hot pads, tasty snacks, spices, and recipes given to me by my mother, and the pour over my dad taught me how to use are just the beginnings of my family's influence on my life.

As I grow older, the more I realize many of my habits and my ideas about life have been influenced by my family. I am very thankful for this enduring influence. Though things like smoothie cups, music taste, vitamin supplements and coffee are not essential to the good life, my relationship with Jesus, the love of learning, the grace and values my parents taught me have richly blessed my life in an essential way. Without their faithful guidance and obedience to Christ, I may not know Jesus as I do today. Though my salvation comes from Christ and His grace alone, through His grace, He used my family to teach and guide me towards Jesus. For that, I am forever thankful. 

Praise be to God for families. Praise be to God for the richness of His love. Praise be to God for how He uses families to grow and shape us. He used my family and my church family as I was growing up in my parents’ home. Now, as a young adult, He continues to shape my affections, desires, knowledge, understanding and heart through the families in my life. Glimmers of their influence are all around me, from the kitchen sink to the Bible in my room. But their influences on my heart are the greatest of all. 

The traditions of Christmas, the stories and the songs, are deeply impactful. They remind me of the gracious gift of my Savior and his miraculous birth. But His mercies don’t end in the holiday traditions. It is also in the daily gospel moments, the daily conflicts and conversations, and the daily traditions and routines that I see God continue to shape my heart and mind, even after the tree comes down and the decorations go away. 

As I praise God this Christmas season, I am reminded to also praise Him for the daily mercies He has provided through family. May He continue to grow and shape my heart and yours through our families this Christmas season and in our day to day life afterward.

Sincerely,

Sophi