“Hey, I love you! See you tonight!”

“I love you. I love you! I LOVE YOU!
-Buddy the Elf, a man orphaned at birth, raised by elves, and upon reuniting with his birth father, was overcome with JOY!
Last week a dad and daughter arrived late to preschool, they had missed the carline, so dad was walking his daughter into class. I happened to see them in the hallway, and I offered to take the daughter to her room. Dad agreed, but before he left, he and his daughter did the sweetest little goodbye ritual, including a high five, a fist bump, and touching their index fingers together. Then dad said, “Hey, I love you! See you tonight!”
I felt so blessed to witness this little moment of daddy and daughter time! As a “daddy’s girl” myself, I was almost moved to tears. This dad could have very easily skipped this ritual. They were obviously off-schedule that day. It would have been easy to say, “Hurry up! See you later!” but instead, he took the time for a little ritual.
Having little rituals like this builds unity in a family. Things like praying together before meals, telling the same stories over and over AND OVER at bedtime, and the special hello and goodbye “ceremonies that are unique to your family bind you together.
Christmas time is a time of traditions and rituals, the Advent season that we celebrate every year, is a special time that we as a church family prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
My family has a tradition of “counting off” before we have family prayer before a big family dinner. We all stand in a circle holding hands and count off. My 90-year-old grandmother started this tradition to keep track of how many people were at a family reunion. It became a time for us to be thankful for the those that were here with us, to pray for the ones who were not able to make it that year, and to remember the ones who have passed away and would never be able to be there again. So now we do it at all our family gatherings. It is a tradition.
God gave the Israelites several feasts to celebrate so that the faith’s traditions, rituals, and purpose could be passed down from generation to generation. During one of the feasts, Jesus gave us the ritual of communion. Breaking bread and drinking wine with the expressed intention of remembering who He is and what He has done for us.
What are some of the “I love you” rituals you do with your family? How do you scream “I love you!” like Buddy the Elf, with actions rather than words? I would love to hear about them. If you don’t think that you have any, see me. I have a whole book of “I love you” rituals that you read!
I wish you well!
Miss Jenni

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