The turkey is done,the football games played and now its onto thoughts of Christmas. I have had the chance to talk with several friends about the upcoming holiday. I am noticing an interesting trend. I wonder if others have noticed it too.
With the struggling economy many of the conversations I have had have gone something along these lines:
“Boy money sure is tight.”
“Yes it is,how is your family handling the holidays?”
“Well we have been able to BUY the kids/family X,Y,Z, T,U and V too.So we will have a good Christmas despite the tough financial times.”
Here are the thoughts that came to me after several such conversations. 1.Since WHEN does being able to BUY lots of things make it a good Christmas?2.WHY does being able to buy lots make it a good Christmas?3.Why are we as a society in general so focused on STUFF?
This year we decided as a family to keep things very simple.A few gifts(VERY few) for each child. Because we will be “low” on gifts we plan to be full on fun and quality time.My hubby is able to take 2 weeks off over the Christmas holiday and we plan to use every second of it to play,craft,cook,snow ball fight,snuggle up and watch Christmas movies,drink hot chocolate,share with others,etc. Despite all of that wonderfulness I still found myself feeling bad about the limited number of “things” each of my children would receive!
Its plain nonsense and silliness to feel that way!I just kinda forgot it and got all wrapped up in the societal norm of giving WAY more than you can afford because after all its the STUFF that matters right?
I was reminded about the things that really matter while reading a book on a totally different topic today! One of my all time favorite homeschool books is Teri Maxwell’s “Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit”. This book truly speaks to my heart.It is full of wonderful scriptures that speak to contentment,hard work,and gratitude.
The part that struck me strongest today was about taking our thoughts captive.Not allowing our thoughts to dwell on the worldly ideals but trying to focus our thoughts on the Lord and His ways. That's exactly what I needed to do today.I was focusing on gifts and money and worldly things instead of focusing on the joys of this season.The time with my beloved family,the chance to share with my children about the wonders of Christ birth.All the things that will make this a wonderful Christmas.
I hope that this Christmas season we are all able to keep our thought and hearts on the things that truly matter :0)
1 comment:
Love this post! Yes, I agree, we keep hearing the same things: "buy more stuff, buy more stuff, we don't have money but we'll go into debt and buy more stuff". I think the best thing we did this year was get our Christmas gifts before November 1st (and we only got a few per child, some of which were free/recycled from yard sales). It has made it so easy to say to myself, my children, and others that we're done and don't need to look at anything on sale now. Just looking to see what the deals are is a trap that is too tempting!
Now we're doing the same sort of thing as you, making December plans that center around having free/inexpensive fun as a family, as well as keeping a focus on Jesus.
And I love the book you mentioned too!
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