Growing up, my mom would bake a lot for the holidays, especially for Christmas and Easter. We had a tradition in our house that we would gift baked goods to our neighbors for those holidays. It was a great way to meet new neighbors and stay in touch with old ones, but it was also a great way to show them that these two holidays meant a lot to us because we believe in Jesus Christ.We lived in my childhood home for 17 years so you can imagine the bond that we created with our neighbors throughout the years. Every Christmas and Easter, we would head over to several homes closest to us and bring them homemade Russian sweets like “bulochki” or “pirogi s makom.”
I wanted to bring this tradition into my new little family with Nik. Before buying our home, we lived in apartments and even in the close proximity that apartments give you, we neglected to get to know our neighbors. I really wanted to change that! So, this Christmas seemed like the perfect opportunity to start getting to know the people who live closest to us as a part of planting our roots in this home and a new Christmas tradition. I decided to make Christmas sugar cookies, which isn’t exactly a Russian dessert, but it’s a yummy and traditional one. For me, baking is kind of a chore. Although I do enjoy it, I’m not the kind of person to bake to relax, because it’s usually not a relaxing process for me. Baking for people I don’t know was a sacrifice for me and that made it a humbling experience. It was a good reminder for me that Christmas, the true meaning of it, was a sacrifice and a humbling moment for Jesus Christ. He left his heavenly throne to be born in a manger and to live the life of a human being, experience real pain and real emotions that we feel. Baking cookies may not have been that great of a sacrifice on my part, but it was a connection for me to remind myself that Christmas is for giving…not just receiving. Giving to people you know and love is easy. Giving to people you’ve never met…not so much.
My husband is very introverted. I tend to be a little more extroverted than him; although, I’m usually not the one to come up to people myself. We went out in the afternoon with little gift bags of sugar cookies and met three of the neighbors that surround us. It made me realize how much we have missed when we lived in our apartments. It will take years, to build a bond between our neighbors, but a simple introduction and a bag of goodies goes farther than you might think. It is important to step out of your comfort zone. It is important to meet new people even if you are an introvert because if we do not meet new people, how are we supposed to show the world the love of Jesus, the real reason for the Christmas season. I’m glad we did this and I’m excited to keep doing it in the future!
