Christmas celebrations at the beach might be popular in Honolulu or San Diego, but in Michigan not so much.

But our family has been seeking to establish new holiday traditions this year, after last year’s failures. Holding onto “the way we’ve always done it” without the head of our family who “always did it with us” was a disaster last year, so this year we started from scratch. After all, we’re a different family now, minus Nate and plus our three new babies.

Today, on Christmas afternoon, we made a fire at the beach in 28 degree weather, taking the little ones along and having a great time sledding down the small dunes. Nelson and Lars packed firewood in the pick-up and asked for an hour’s head start to get the fire going. It took us almost that long to dress five babies in their winter gear, and when we arrived with hot coffee and cookies, the fire was blazing.

Skylar remembered last summer’s visit to this same beach, and as she came over the dune she shouted, “Let’s get stones!” Unfortunately they were cemented to the sand by icy snow, although she quickly lost interest when her mittened fingers couldn’t pick them up anyway.

Our new tradition was 100% successful without tears or complaints from even the littlest ones, and I hope we can have a beach bonfire every Christmas Day.

All of us remembered last year’s holiday season with pain as we talked about our first Christmas without Nate, coming only seven weeks after he died. It’s been a challenging year with many ups and downs, and we’re thankful to be where we are today rather than in the sad holiday season of a year ago.

I like to think about God watching over us throughout our lives, knowing every circumstance that’ll come to each of us. He saw death take our husband and father decades before we knew anything about Nate’s cancer, and when the time came, God chose not to stop it. But he also saw today’s happy afternoon on a frosty beach and heard our laughter years before it came out of our mouths.

More than just seeing today, though, he also planned it, set it into motion, and supplied the stamina for us to get from the difficult Christmas of 2009 to the much better Christmas of 2010.

Our first choice would have been to have Nate with us in addition to our three new babies, but that family wasn’t one of our available choices. So we continue to make adjustments, looking for God’s steady blessing as we go, and today’s beach party was one of his good ones.

”No one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.” (Lamentations 3:31-33)

”It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” or so the song tells us. Although we hear reports of people over-extending their credit and over-indulging their appetites, the Christmas season does bring out the good in humanity. Today our family saw that up close, when we rang bells for the Salvation Army.

Three years ago, our extended family took a short mission trip that included Christmas day (see blog two days hence), and ever since, some of us have wanted to try another service project. Linnea investigated the Salvation Army and learned they were still looking for bell ringers. We signed up for two-hour time slots at two Walmart entrances and this morning took our turn with the bells.

The Salvation Army is a Christian church started nearly 150 years ago in England. Although their greatest passion is to see people saved by grace through Christ, they also work hard to help those they call “down and outers.” Their strategy is to follow three S’s: first soup, then soap and finally salvation.

The Army is one of the most popular charities in the world, ranking #4 (of 100) in the United States and operating in 122 countries. They’re often the first to show up at disaster areas and the last to leave, sometimes working for years to help refugees in one area.

This year there were over 25,000 volunteer bell ringers during their annual Christmas fundraiser, each wearing the red apron and standing next to the traditional kettles. Children love to “feed the red pots” and banter with the bell ringers, hoping for a chance to handle the bell.

It was a cold day in Michigan City but all the babies joined us for the event, bringing lots of attention and extra donations because they were there. Skylar and Nicholas never tired of putting coins into the kettles, scrutinizing the sidewalks for stray pennies (and finding them), after our supply had run out.

I’m ashamed to say how few red kettles I’ve fed over sixty-plus years of seeing/hearing them in front of stores. After being a ringer, I plan to contribute to every kettle I pass. It embarrasses me to admit I wrongly assumed ringers were there as a form of community service or even punishment for a crime. To the contrary, they’re all ringing because they want to help.

Our first donator was a woman shepherding six children. She made the effort to dig out a contribution, showing her children what it looked like to be a cheerful giver. Others dug into their pockets, wallets and purses, even if it took several minutes. Some came straight from the parking lot with donations already in their palms, prepared to participate.

A special donator was the woman who asked if I was cold. When I said, “Only a  little,” she said, “Do you drink coffee?” Then she offered to buy a cup and bring it to me, a kind gesture I won’t forget.

I’m not sure how much money we raised for the Army’s three S’s, but it was an honor to wear the red apron, greet shoppers with “Merry Christmas!” and ring the bell.

Maybe we’ll do it again next year.

“The poorest of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety.” (Isaiah 14:30)