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New Year's Day

All Things New with New Year’s Traditions

December 20, 2019 by Sharon

new year's traditions
January 1 is a great time for a fresh start and some New Year’s traditions. When my boys were young, we looked forward to doing as many new things as possible on New Year’s Day. We’d go to new places, use new things, find new things to do, and eat new foods. If you’re wanting to create exciting New Year’s traditions for your little ones, here are some ways you can make all things new for them!

Wear Something New

We’d start the day by wearing something new. Typically this was pajamas, shirts, or sweaters that we got for Christmas. Sometimes it was a new accessory like jewelry, a watch, a scarf, or mittens. Even if it was something we’d worn after Christmas, it was still new enough for New Year’s Day.

Go New Places

My family has always enjoyed taking a scenic drive. For New Year’s Day, we would plan a special outing that would take us somewhere we hadn’t been before or on a road we had never explored. We’d take a bridge to explore the other side of a river or drive to a new town in the area. Along the way, we would look for new shops or restaurants that we hadn’t visited before. We tried to find a new place for lunch or for a snack. In our area of Pennsylvania, there were lots of little mom-and-pop diners along the way, but we found that these were often closed for the holiday, so you might want to do a little research before you go. You could always pack a picnic or new treat to enjoy in the car.

Use New Recipes

Because restaurants were often closed, I decided to look for new foods and recipes for us to enjoy at home. Sometimes I’d make a new muffin recipe for breakfast or find a new dessert to make for dinner. I would also look for new varieties of candy, chips, or other snacks that I could save for us to enjoy on New Year’s Day. For dinner, we would have a traditional New Year’s meal. In Pennsylvania, we always had pork roast and sauerkraut, but in South Carolina, where we live now, black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread are more traditional. For your own New Year’s traditions, you could try traditional foods from different countries or regions, such as vasilopita (a Greek cake) or sausage and lentil stew from Italy.

Do Something New

If my boys got new things to play with for Christmas, we would break those out after dinner. New puzzles, games, or Lego® sets are fun for the whole family to do together. You could also start a new read-aloud, or have each of your kids pick out a new book to read at bedtime.

Start a New Theme for Bible Time

The highlight of New Year’s Day was our family devotions. My husband would choose a new theme for the new year. Sometimes it was a new goal we’d work on together, like kind speech, loving others, or Scripture memory. Other times it was a new attribute of Christ that we’d focus on. Then we’d learn a new verse and a new hymn to go with our theme. While we wouldn’t necessarily keep to that topic each day of the year, we talked about the theme regularly so we’d grow in that area.

A new year is a great opportunity to renew, energize, and get a fresh start! How else could you encourage all things new for your kids for the new year?

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: New Year's Day, new year's traditions, traditions

Celebrating the Creation Mandate

December 31, 2015 by Wesley

Imagine this—you’re with a group of friends for a New Year’s Eve party. There’s a fire burning in the fireplace and hot cider in the kitchen. After some holiday food, there’s a time of singing. People begin to share some testimonies about what God is doing in their lives and what they’re learning from Scripture. One girl opens her Bible to share a verse that she just read in her devotions that morning—Genesis 1:28. Hmm . . . that’s an odd choice for a warm fuzzy verse. Then she reads it: “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth  and subdue it and have dominion over . . .. ” Now if this were my party, I would be starting to feel a little nervous right about now. I would want to know where she’s going with this.

composition of both the Western and Eastern Hemisphere of planet Earth

Where is Genesis 1:28 going? Why is it in the Bible? This verse is significant not only because it gives us authority over all the animals. We would have been clear on that by the simple fact that we are made in God’s image (1:26). But it’s also significant because it gives us a mandate—the Creation Mandate—to rule over God’s world in His place and to maximize the usefulness of God’s creation for our good and His glory.

First of all, God commands Adam to have children. God wasn’t satisfied with one image-bearer; He wanted the earth to be full of people made in His own image. These people would use and change the natural world that God created. But that’s what God intended—thus His second command to subdue or govern the earth. God designed humans to be creative and to create in and with the world they live in. Everywhere these people went and lived, they were to rule over the creation. All the plants and the herbs would be for food (1:29). Even the most intelligent, powerful, and majestic of God’s animals would be the servants of human beings (1:28). Human beings occupy a place of awesome privilege because they bear God’s image. It’s a position not only of privilege but also of responsibility.

The weight of this responsibility started to sink in when Adam disobeyed God. Not only would Adam die, but so would all mankind with him (Romans 5:12). His wrong choice as a leader damaged everything he was supposed to be ruling over (Genesis 3:17–18; Romans 8:22). But Adam’s damage didn’t destroy God’s design of the world. Even God’s cataclysmic judgment with a worldwide flood didn’t undo His order. After the Flood, God reaffirmed each part of the Creation Mandate with Noah and his family (Genesis 9:1–20).

Today we are still directed by the Creation Mandate because we still live in the world that God created. Though sin has deeply affected God’s creation, the world still works. People are born every day, and they make useful things. In many cases, they’re fighting back against the effects of sin and the Curse. The Creation Mandate gives us a glimpse of what God created the earth to be and how we can live all of life to the glory of God. And that is something worth sharing with your friends at a New Year’s Eve party.

Filed Under: Shaping Worldview Tagged With: Genesis 1:28, image of God, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, party, ruling

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