Last night I sent the boys out on a date. In "boyspeak" we called it a mission. Andrew had to take pictures of lots and lots of Christmas light displays with the digital camera, and then his daddy took him out to grab a treat and "bond" (we've both been suffering from Yasar withdrawl, but Andrew seems to be particularly whiny lately about missing his dad). They had a great time, the pictures are very cool (if a little blurry), and I plan to have them made into a photo book here if I could get my %@*^! slooooow internet to upload my photos to their server! Argh!
My real motivation to getting the boys out of the house is I needed to get the Christmas presents wrapped. My sneaky little 6-year-old was adamant that he was going to see his surprises, so I needed that extra layer of security that festive paper adds. I hunkered down with my scissors and magic tape and got it all done.
And then I looked at our presents. Sure are a lot less then years past. I started feeling a little bad. I mean, it's Christmas! We should have lots of gifts to open, not this small, pathetic pile. Isn't that our right? Oh, so humiliating......
I guess what happened next could be classified as an epiphany. Why are we opening presents on His birthday? It should be about what gifts we can give Jesus on His special day, right?
I'll give you a moment to digest that.
So I've been praying about what Jesus wants for Christmas this year. I feel like the little drummer boy - not much to give, but willing to give all I have. I can't wait to see where He leads me!
(Somehow, I don't think it's going to be to Zhu Zhu Hamsters)
I have a friend that only gives her children 3 gifts for Christmas just like Jesus got from the Wise Men. No Santa, just the three gifts. They get gifts from other family members but not at home.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a pretty nice idea.
I love your thought on giving Jesus something. We always bake him a cake on Christmas and we eat that for dessert but we have never given him a gift.
ReplyDeleteBTW...We have a "little stack" too. But by choice. We give each of our kids 3 gifts each year. Jesus got 3 so we give them 3 (plus little stuff in the stockings like candy, new toothbrushes etc.). It's really good because it forces us to think hard about what to get and not buy things without purpose. They aren't expensive gifts but they don't mind. They have never, ever said that they didn't get enough gifts. This is just what we do.
Hugs,
Trisha
so good to hear from you after this long..
ReplyDeletehow r u Emily?
hey merry christmas in advance from myside to you and your family. :)
Take Care Dear.
You are oh, so right! That is what we should focus on. Almost impossible to do in our culture, though.
ReplyDeleteI like Trisha's idea about the 3 gifts. I hate that they're given SO MANY gifts when they dont' really need them. It thoroughly annoys me when the gmas overbuy. I've already put my foot down on bday. It really should be about what we can give.
ReplyDelete