Tradition 4
When Hunter was a baby, we were looking for ways to use symbolism in our Christmas family traditions. I was in a craft store with a dear friend and saw some raffia ( straw like stuff) on the shelf. Seeing that it was very inexpensive and had the appearence hay, I bought some. At that point we decided to start using raffia as binding for our packages instead of ribbon.
We found it brought us back to the manger everytime we would look under the tree, remembering the lowly way that Jesus came to us. It was not with fancy glitz and glamour, no shiny bows. He came to a stable and was laid in a manger filled with hay.
Over the years the raffia has become a major decore thing at Christmas time. We put it on the tree and in all of the greenery.
Noelle Piper has written a wonderful book called Treasuring God in our Traditions.
God Bless, Laura
