Family Traditions

That Christmas as Glory and I picked up the boys and brought them home. The car was filled with uninterrupted, endless, excited chatter! Ace and Marcus had every second planned, which just brought gigantic grins with "Aren't they cute?" glances to mine and Glory's faces.

At my house we have many traditions, which Marcus was initiated with. My children take turns being in charge of a particular event each year.

• On Christmas Eve we read the first Christmas story from the Bible;
• Someone plays Santa and passes out the presents;
• We eat Jumble-berry pie for breakfast, which is an honor to cut;
• We cook ham (it is an honor to pray for our food) and enjoy each others company;

My children fought over these positions yearly. I was amazed there was no fighting this year, both Courtney and Ace were more than willing to hand the reigns to Marcus. Each time I would explain the tradition and ask,"Who wants to be in charge of this?" Marcus would shy away and try to fade into the background, but each time Ace and Courtney would simultaneously chime in, "It's Marcus's turn this year!" He'd grin from ear-to-ear, jump in and eagerly do each family task.

As we returned the boys to the facility and said our goodbyes. Marcus gave me a big hug, and tried to speak. Choking back tears, he commented, "I'm so glad God gave me a new family! I love you! See ya next weekend Mom!"

In everything he followed the example of his father.

2 Kings 14:3

I am blessed

Merrym Dawn Mathis Bruce