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Yesterday was Mother's Day. Well it was Mother's Day in the UK not in Hungary. That gave us a dilemma, first of all keeping up with important holidays when they are not marked on your calendar, and secondly whether we should celebrate here or not. While commercialism has many negatives it does have some benefits, at least if you are blasted with Mother's Day messages in every aisle you have a fair chance of remembering the occasion. Thankfully this year we did remember and my Mum was delighted to receive flowers. Unfortunately our children didn't remember to celebrate with me and I suddenly felt the importance of the day! In the middle of my disappointment I realized that along with embracing the new it is important to celebrate some of the traditional things within our own culture.

As an ex-pat family it is a good idea to decide what occasions are important to celebrate with your family. Talk about it together so you are all on the same page. If it isn't something that is celebrated in the country you are in look up the dates in advance and mark them on your calendar. If it is an occasion like Mother's Day when you won't be involved in the planning make sure they at least know when it is. Try to do this well in advance so they can be prepared and you don't have an opportunity to be disappointed. If there is a similar alternative celebration in your host nation then decide if you want to celebrate on that day instead. We have just discovered that while there isn't a Mother's Day celebration here we can celebrate on Women's day which is celebrated a week earlier in Hungary. Substitution works well if you don't mind what date you celebrate on.

The "to celebrate or not to celebrate" question also came into focus today. The fact that the whole nation of Hungary is in full celebration mode means no one is working, shops are shut, children are off school and there are lots of events in the city.  March 15^th is the anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Working with a worldwide organization means that we often don't know when to take time off.  Do we go with the holidays in the head office, or with the local national holidays?

After swinging from one opinion to the other we realized that we had often worked a full day in our time zone before realizing that there was a holiday on the other side of the world. Also our children were in school when the other holidays were celebrated because they were not important dates here.  The main thing is to talk about what is important to you and your family.

• Decide what dates are important for you and your family to celebrate
• Be willing to leave the old and embrace the new (but don't forget that date if a loved one back home expects you to remember their special day)
• Also be willing to preserve the old when you know it has a family or cultural significance that you want to preserve
• Be proactive and plan

Whatever you decide do remember to have times of celebration.  All through the old and new testament we have example after example of celebrations that occurred. Celebrations give us an opportunity to express our thankfulness to God for all he has done for us.

Psalm 145:7

They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.