7th Day of Christmas with Aimee Powell {wife of Third Day’s Mac Powell}
From unrealistic expectations to traditions to your screaming schedule as well as those annual holiday encounters with the in-laws and outlaws, this free 5 Day challenge will allow your holidays to go from chaos to calm. Click HERE for the free 5 Day Challenge and they will automatically come to your inbox. Merry Christmas!
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IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember you may comment to win on all of the 12 Days of Christmas posts until Sunday night, December 15th at midnight EST so be sure to read through those you missed and catch up!
Welcome to the 7th Day of Christmas guests and giveaways! Today we’re featuring a new friend of mine. I met her when she and her husband read a blog post I wrote that they liked so much they shared it on air in a radio interview and emailed me to tell me so. It touched my heart so much! And it about made my jaw drop when I found out who she was. Her name is Aimee Powell.
Aimee is the wife of Mac, lead singer of Christian rock band, Third Day. They have been married and making Christmas memories for over 17 years. Together they are raising 5 wonderful children, Scout (14), Cash (11), Camie Love (10), Emmanuel (4), and Birdie Clare (3). She’s stopped by to tell us what Chrsitmas is like around their place.
So now, here’s Aimee….
I am a traditionalist at heart, so I love all the nostalgic fun of Christmastime. I’m sure we share lots of the same traditions. I love setting out our nativity scenes, listening to Christmas music, having the house decorated, being with family and friends.
Every year on our way home from Thanksgiving in Alabama, our children watch The Polar Express on the TV in our 9 passenger conversion van. Mac and I get emotional listening from the front seat.
I get excited watching our children open “just one gift” on Christmas Eve while donned in their new jammies.
But just a few short hours before the children go to bed on Christmas Eve, we have a huge celebration at our house. My mother’s side of the family (it’ll be 36 of us this year) pile into the kitchen to hug and kiss, laugh and eat lots of yummy food.
Once everyone is finished eating, we crowd into the living room to listen to my 88 year old grandfather, Big Papa, read from the Bible, the story of Jesus’ birth. When he is finished reverently reading Luke 2, we continue our worship by singing “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger”. Of all our traditions, this is my FAVORITE!
Merry Christmas.
Luke 2
New International Version (NIV)
The Birth of Jesus
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
TODAY’S GIVEAWAY:
Mac and Aimee are giving two of you who comment a package of select Third Day CD’s. Simply tell us what you do with extended family at Christmastime. If you don’t get together with them then tell us what you do on Christmas Eve.
I’ll go first. We get together with my extended family at my mom’s a Christmas Day in the afternoon to exchange gifts and eat my mom’s turkey and dressing, my brother’s barbecue meatballs and my sister-in-law’s famous fudge.
And you?
Every year since I was little, we have spent Christmas Day with my mom’s whole family at our house. This is the first Christmas that we’ll be away from home for Christmas (God Bless the Army!), so we’re trying to figure out a new Christmas tradition to start with our little family.
We go to church and bake a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve is spent celebrating with the in-laws and Christmas Day is spent with my parents. :)
We celebrate at our church with a Candlelight Service.
We gather w/my husband’s family on Christmas Eve with a dinner of wedding soup,salad and ox roast sandwiches. Afterwards we attend Christmas Eve mass. On Christmas we gather w/my family and enjoy ham , pineapple casserole, cheesey potatoes and other treats.
My parents used to come to Arizona from Oklahoma to spend Christmas with us. We would bake and sing. And share Christmas stories from everyone’s childhood. My mom passed away a year ago September. My dad won’t come anymore, Christmas was “Mom’s thing.” Last year we got a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. And I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by myself. Christmas Eve I found a family who was alone and invited them to bake cookies with us. So I’m on the lookout for others to come over and bake cookies. I hostessed a Christmas Tea… This may be a new tradition :). Merry Christmas and remember, Jesus Loves Me is more than just lyrics to a song
On Christmas Eve we go to church and then ride around to see Christmas lights. After that, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas time. thx
Well as I am now the matriarchof the extended family. The kids and family all come to my house on Christmas eve. Spend the night eating popcorn, cookies etcand watching Christmas movies. They then allnsleep on the living room floor (up to 14 now) to await. Christmas morning. Then it is breakfast, opening gifts and the big dinner…..
The Saturday before Christmas we all get together at my Mom’s sisters house. We eat and enjoy fellowship with each other. We also each bring a gift (girls bring girls gifts, guy brings guy gift) and then we draw numbers. #1 goes first but the gift can be “stolen” twice. It makes for a lot of fun and togetherness. Christmas Eve we gather at my Mom’s house or at my Sister in Laws house (we alternate every year). At Mom’s we open our christmas p.j.’s have dinner and play games. At Sister in laws they open all of their gifts on Christmas Eve and we eat tamales. Yummy!!!
We attend our church’s candlelight service as a family. We come home and have clam chowder for dinner and snuggle down to a Christmas movie.
When we’ve lived close enough (a day’s drive or less), we have gone to see family – lots of food, laughter, games, and music. Years we have been too far away, we will hang out with just the eight of us, playing games and drinking hot cider, eating junk food, things like that – then time to recall our blessings from the past year.
Our family is pretty spread out, so we usually choose a weekend before or after Christmas to all gather at my mom & dad’s. There are 33 of us (just mom, dad, siblings, nieces & nephews!) and we have a good time watching the kids play together and open gifts. And, of course, we always have plenty of good food!
Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion at church!!
We get together at my aunt’s house – HUGE side of the family with lots of my cousins (and now lots of great grandkids for my Grandma that all of us cousins are now married and having our own kids). The best part is since there are so many of us, instead of exchanging gifts we all get some sort of cheap game/toy to enjoy all together. One year it was little sparkle balls we all ended up throwing around the room at each other and then up at the light bulb because it was hot and the balls would stick to it and melt. Last year we all got little pop open paper toys. Always a ton of fun and laughter with us.
Sitting around my grandma’s living room with all my cousins on Christmas Eve has always been precious to me
We do not live near any of our family and due to limited finances we are not able to travel to see them. On Christmas Eve I always make a nice dinner and then my husband and I go to Candlelight Service at church and then we take a ride to look at all the beautiful lights. Christmas Day we are going to visit with several other couples that do not have family. We plan to play games and generally have a very relaxing day.
My mom-in-law usually comes in from out of state for a couple of days, but 2 wks ago today, at about this time ironically enough, she & m 16 yr old son, by the Grace of the Lord, survived an awful car accident. She is 70, really banged up, so I don’t think she will be back, my son got an awful concussion, stitches, & has been traumatized..but he is strong. I think as a mom I may be dealing with it worse..as I couldn’t stop it, & I wasn’t even there.
Both sides of the family come to our house for Christmas dinner and gift exchange.
We eat, eat and eat some more!
Christmas Eve, we go to candle lit service and stop over my Aunt’s after. Cookies are stories await us. In years past the extended family would gather for game night at my mom’s.
We travel to see my in laws and my parents come to visit us. We just spend time together watching the kids and being together. My mother in law makes a Christmas strudel every Christmas morning.
We do Christmas brunch on Christmas morning and we have an extended family gathering every Christmas with a dice game that includes both my grandmother’s family and her brother’s family.
When my Gramma was alive we would all get together at her house throughout the day. Now that she’s passed on, we no longer get together with her siblings. But since there are so few of us (my brother’s family, mom) and my husband’s family (mom and brother), we all get together and have a great time. Now that my brother is seeing a woman with 2 children of her own (to add to his 1),it’s grown considerably. But I would trade nothing for it. This year we are having, my mom, brother’s family, BIL, MIL, Auntie (by heart), her mother, my cousin and her husband /children. Not to mention those friends who should have been family.
We always have Christmas at our nuclear families houses then the day after Christmas we convene at my parents house for a belated celebration.
The week before Christmas we have a Christmas party with all the family from my husband’s side, complete with party foods and presents to steal in the Santa game. And on Christmas Eve, my 3 children each open a gift, and then finish opening presents Christmas morning. Then we go to my parents for lunch with my sisters and their families and eat and open presents from a name draw. It’s all fun! Also, every year, we have a church Christmas party with a fun time of fellowship and food and gift game, as well as Christmas music, and a devotion about Christmas.