Merry Christmas!

Posted on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 10:21

As a child, I wasn't terribly fond of Christmas as a holiday.  I was raised a Christian, in fact, my grandfather was the minister at our church.  I enjoyed reading the story of Jesus' birth, and believed that He came to earth to save us from our sins, and to guide us on the path to Heaven.  However, the gift-giving part of Christmas, the commercialized part, irritated me.  The stores always have insisted on putting out their Christmas displays before Thanksgiving, completely overlooking the November holiday, and my birthday along with it.  My parents never had loads of money, and we never seemed to get quite as many gifts as our friends, but that didn't worry me.  I never felt like I wanted for anything.  In fact, I distinctly remember laying in bed one Christmas night, crying because my parents had gotten me the coat I had begged for, and I felt guilty, because I knew that there were kids in the world who had gotten nothing.  I think that my parents had done such a good job of teaching us the true meaning of Christmas, that I hated to see all of the ways the world used the holiday to their earthly advantage, rather than looking to Jesus for their soul's salvation.

My husband comes from a family where gift-giving is a big deal.  For the first six years of our marriage, we struggled with this, as I wanted the focus to be not on what they got, but what they gave, and on the miracle of Jesus' birth.  This year, after going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, my husband and I finally reached an understanding.  Our children didn't get a huge pile of presents- they each got one "big" present, and three small ones.  "Big" didn't mean expensive- it meant something they really wanted.  Our five year old got a computer to play his school games- it was a hand-me-down, and didn't cost us a thing, but he doesn't know that.  My husband built our 3 year old the "grown-up bed" that she's been begging for- no more baby crib for her!  Our six year old did get a miniature horse that she's been wanting for quite a while- he was a rescue, and needed a good home with loving children.  But the best part of Christmas was found in listening to our children practicing their lines for the Sunday School program, singing "Away in a Manger" over and over and over and over. . .

I know that they are enjoying Christmas for all the right reasons, when they ask to give their favorite toys to someone they love, when they ask what we can do for a family in the community whose home burned down two weeks before Christmas, when they ask if we can visit the nursing home with Grandma to help deliver packages. I know that Jesus lives, because I see Him in their hearts.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and may God bless you throughout the coming year.

Sara

WOW

Posted by cindy on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 11:52 - Link

Sara what a wonderful way to bring up your children. For the past 16 years my children have been given many gifts by my parents as they always went overboard for Christmas., well my parents are both gone now and this year I decided to make Christmas what it should be, don't get me wrong I loved everything my parents ever did for us but I wanted More of Jesus and less of the World so that is what we did this year. We brought blessings to the nursing home, something we had never done before. I couldn't get gifts for my children because we haven't had an extra dime but do you know after giving to the nursing home we were blessed 10 fold by anonymous angels. God is the TRUE meaning of Christmas and this year HE should my children the truth of Jesus' birth.
I pray you have the most wonderful year coming and may God bless you abundantly.

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Posted by gabbie427 on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 11:23 - Link

What a wonderful way to raise your children. The idea of sizing down on gifts didn't occur to me until after our 20 month old opened his gifts on Christmas morning. We bought him a kitchen and some smaller gifts. We should have saved our money and only bought the kitchen. It is his favorite and he barely paid any attention at all to the smaller things. I am going to try to size it down next year!!!

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo

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Posted by blessedmomof10 on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 12:42 - Link

great post -- I enjoyed reading about your time as a child and how you felt about christmas...... you were very mature for your age...... you are doing a wonderful job with keeping things in perspective and focusing on the real reason for the season!

Blessings~
gloria