September 9, 2024
MARIETTA, GA – In A Charlie Brown Christmas Movie, Charlie said, “Rats. Nobody sent me a Christmas card today. I almost wish there weren’t a holiday season. I know nobody likes me. Why do we have a holiday season to emphasize it?”
Unlike Charlie Brown there are millions of Christians who find themselves enmeshed in the spirit of Christmas, joined with their loved ones sharing centuries-old traditions and rejoicing in the amazing glory of the incarnation. For many families Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.
That is certainly true of the Mark Somers family. Mark, pastor of Noonday Baptist Church in Marietta, and his wife, Leah, have made it a family custom to get all seven children involved in the spirit of Christmas.
Mark explained, “Traditionally, everyone in the family helps with Christmas decorating and we begin immediately after Thanksgiving. However, now that our college age daughters, Lacey and Lauren, are getting ready for final exams at that time, the boys have jumped right in to take on their responsibilities.
“For many years the boys and I would go pick out a live Christmas tree, but several years ago we bought two artificial Christmas trees that fit our home well. The older boys take the trees out of the boxes and put them together. All the kids fluff up the tree branches. Leah decorates with a large bow and strings of beads. Then the kids hang the ornaments.”
Mark and the older boys tackle the job of decorating the outside of the house, while the younger sons help Leah with the decorations inside the house, including the nativity, the greenery on the stairway and the lights. The Somers agree that music helps set the mood for the work at hand and inspires the family to fulfill their responsibilities without a cross word – almost always.
One of the traditions for the Somers family involves an advent calendar which they started using when the older children were only toddlers. Mark admitted, “The calendar gets handled so much during Christmas that we had to replace the original version with a newer one. The kids take turns adding a part of the nativity scene each day, and we read Scripture to prepare our hearts for Christmas day when the Christ child is placed in the manger.”
Mark added, “The kids really enjoy drawing names for a ‘secret sibling’. They love to think of what their specific sibling would like to receive as a gift and cannot wait to purchase a gift and wrap it. They joy on their face when they give the gift to their sibling on Christmas morning is priceless.”
The Somers’ daughters have been involved in music and dance throughout their childhoods. It has been reported that one of their favorite Christmas traditions over the years has been attending The Nativity Ballet at The Grand Theater in Cartersville.
According to Leah, “Both Lacey and Lauren performed in the ballet for many years, and it became the perfect weekend to invite friends and extended family to see the performances. Lacey was a part of the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra in high school and is now a member of Kennesaw State University Symphony Orchestra. Their holiday concerts are mostly secular, but always include excellent and inspirational music pointing to the birth of Christ.”
Mark explained, “Our Christmas Eve service at church is particularly special because most of our family is serving together, whether through music, the technical team, or the message. At this service we partake of the Lord’s Supper, read Scripture, sing Christmas carols, and enjoy special Christmas music.
“Our most cherished Christmas memories are coming home from the Christmas Eve service as a family and eating a simple dinner together. Since our extended family all live in Florida, we see them at Thanksgiving, and sometimes before or after Christmas. However, our own ‘little family’ enjoys the quietness of Christmas Eve and the anticipation of Christmas morning with just our family.
“On Christmas morning at home, I read Luke 2 as we gather for a family breakfast and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. I cook a big Christmas breakfast with cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and bacon. We eat breakfast on our Christmas dishes that are a family heirloom. We enjoy opening our presents, eating good food, playing games, and watching movies together.”
“We all look forward to Leah’s eggnog (non-alcoholic, of course) that was made by her aunt every year at her childhood family Christmas celebrations. Since her aunt passed away in 1999, Leah has carried on the tradition of making eggnog, specifically for the church staff parties. But the kids enjoy the eggnog as much as the adults. Leah also uses family recipes for meatballs and spinach artichoke dip that are crowd pleasers.”
Mark Somers could write an essay on Ten Ways to Keep Christ in Christmas: and perhaps that is just what he has done. With the current secularization of Christmas in our nation and as the nation grows darker morally and spiritually, we need to see an expression of light and hope – a new sunrise. Jesus Christ is that sunrise. As the Apostle John said of Jesus’ arrival as a baby born in Bethlehem: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1: 19)
We must see this Christmas as the dawn of a new day, for Christ is brighter than the radiance of the sun and fully capable of dispelling the darkness of night and bringing hope to a world submerged in suffering and polluted with sin. But the dawn of that new day can only bring peace and hope to the world if it begins in your home. As the sun rises this Christmas celebrate not a day, but a person, Jesus Christ.
