Traditions

Tucson is a crazy place. Sunday morning I woke up to snow on the ground, by Tuesday I had the top down on my Jeep enjoying the sunshine. I was driving  yesterday - with the top down - the sun was warming my face and suddenly a brief hint of cigarette smoke blew through the Jeep and I was instantly transported to old memories. It felt as real as if it was yesterday - I was about 15 years old, sitting on the cooler in the boat as my Dad and I were out fishing, the sun was making me drowsy and I could smell my Dad's cigarette smoke. The memory of those days was a good one and it caused me to reflect on what kind of day I would give to my own son - would it be a good memory - one more small foundation stone in his own life. How will I build those memories for him(minus the cigarette smoke of course)?

Memories can be a good thing when they trigger in us a further step with Jesus. It is like when we hear a particular worship song and we experience all over again the touch of His presence and the call to worship. The Puritan's often built these memories through the establishment of traditions in the home. By creating regular traditions that had specific connections to the values of the family they built into their kids  lifelong opportunities to reflect back and then press forward. As long as the traditions continue to bring us to Jesus they are valuable assets. So, what traditions, memories are we building and creating and do they point to Jesus?