I am going to make a confession here. I am kind of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas. Not in the way you might think, so let me explain. Several years ago, that was me on the right. Ok, not exactly. I rarely shopped on Black Friday, I never ever trampled anyone for a "deal" and I don't think I ever had the harried look of someone participating in that old game show where you filled your grocery cart and ran for the checkout in three minutes. (That's kind of what the brunette in the above picture reminds me of).
What I did do however was stress myself completely out over the holiday. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I think because it is low stress. You eat, enjoy family, and spend a relaxing day together. No presents or expectation of any and no major commercial build up for weeks leading up to the day. Just sit with family and friends, remember God's faithfulness, and laugh a lot. My kind of day.
Christmas however, is a whole different ballgame. Or it used to be for me. Weeks and weeks of television commercials aimed at making your children spoiled, demanding brats. Stores that "deck their halls" in October, starting the whining "gimmies" months before the actual day arrives. Well meaning strangers who constantly ask your two year old what he wants from "Santa Claus" and if he has "made his list." With five kids and trying to keep everyone's pile even - I used to spend the entire "jolly" season with a stomach ache just trying to get it all right.
Well, no more.
Quite a number of years ago we began to cut back on the presents. We did not make any announcements of "only three presents each" - after all, if it was good enough for Jesus... No, we just cut back. You know what? They didn't even notice - or if they did, they had the good sense not to mention it. ;)
A couple of years ago, we cut back again. I stopped spending a hundred dollars on stocking stuffers for five that ended up in the garbage can within a week. I started buying a few, well thought out gifts that I knew would last and be enjoyed. I changed our lifestyle all year to one of simplicity. My kids know that I don't buy things just to be buying them - at Christmas or any other day of the year. We started making traditions more important than presents and Jesus most important of all. We started doing things for others - packing Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes, choosing angels off the angel tree, making a meal for someone, collecting food for local food banks. I stopped trying so hard to make it "even." My kids know I love them and if giving myself an ulcer over their stash of presents is necessary to prove it, then I haven't done a very good job of parenting anyway.
You know what I found out? That I had not been giving my kids enough credit. They were happy for another sibling if they got a present they had really been longing for. They delighted in Christmas through the eyes of a toddler - riding the gaudy Christmas train at the railroad park for less than a dollar a piece, making hot chocolate and driving around with the windows down to look at Christmas lights, attending the Christmas Eve service at church and driving a couple of hours north to play in the snow and take pictures. Those things meant more to them than any present.
When I look at the above picture, I know that our family has no needs. Not one. Yes, I love to give gifts to my children. I love to see them open something that I know they wanted and have waited patiently for. I still get a little stressed out around Christmas because I want to find just the right thing for those I love. However, I enjoy the holiday so much more now because we have finally managed to get our focus under control. We always knew what the focus was, but I never felt like we actually lived it out like we knew.
Jesus - He is the reason that we celebrate - and serving other people will always bring us the greatest joy of all. So much better than material things under a tree - and much, much easier on the pocketbook.
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