It's Christmas Time!

If my calculations are correct, this is my 16th Christmas season in retail. My first two seasons were spent in art supply stores and the last fourteen have been with my current company. So, not to brag or anything but I have supplied literally thousands of people with Christmas gifts over the years. You may have even received a gift that I suggested to one of your friends or relatives.

You're welcome.

Gifts are an important part of this season. As a Christian holiday, Christmas is an opportunity to respond to the belief that the Almighty has given the world the gift of Himself through the person of Jesus Christ, whose birth Christmas commemorates. It's a special time of year with many other traditions being added to the holiday over the past several centuries. Especially over the past 100 years or so, gift-giving has evolved (devolved?) into the most important aspect of the season. It seems every year the acts of Christmas shoppers become more and more ridiculous. This year alone there were incidents of people brandishing pepper spray in Wal-Mart, kids getting beaten up by adults, and other acts of violence. All of this in order to celebrate the birth of One who taught his followers to love others in the same way they wish to be loved. Craziness.

While growing up, Christmas was always about the gifts. The most asked question from October til Christmas Day was, "What do you WANT for Christmas?" My parents were not rich, and I know they sacrificed to provide us with gifts on Christmas morning. I am thankful for their sacrifice but I also wonder if we missed something on those special days. I wonder if we allowed our family to be overtaken by the notion that receiving gifts is the most important aspect of the Christmas holiday. Being from the Evangelical side of Christianity we did not attend church on Christmas Eve or Day, and if Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, church was usually cancelled. It made sense when I was a kid since Christmas was about the gifts and church would just interfere with time I desperately needed to fully enjoy those gifts.

Now that I'm a little older and a parent, I struggle with the whole gift-giving enterprise. I'm not, by nature, a good gift-giver, and receiving gifts always make me feel uncomfortable. There are probably some deep-seeded issues related to these feelings, but that's for another time. So, in an effort to avoid the gift-giving frenzy and pressure, my family and I have set up some rules for the gift giving part of the holiday season.

First, we only give our children three gifts each and a stocking. That's it. No hour long gift opening extravaganza on Christmas morn.

Second, we celebrate Advent. We attempt to have a family devotion every night during Advent and on Sunday's we light our Advent candles. On Christmas morning we also light the Christ candle and have our devotion before opening any gifts. This year we are attending a church service on Christmas Day as well.

Third, we have a budget for our large family. With both families combined there are 6 siblings and 5 sibling spouses, 4 grandparents, 3 great-grand parents, 16 nieces and nephews, 4 family gifts to buy for Christmas Eve, and my work staff. Working for a not-for-profit entity will not make one wealthy so there is no way we can buy for absolutely everyone. So, we make a budget and oftentimes do family gifts instead of individual gifts. Some years we also try to make gifts for family members, giving the most precious gifts of time and energy, rather than simply swiping a debit card at a department store.

Fourth, my wife and I don't exchange gifts. Neither one of us are good at giving gifts and it frees us from the pressure of finding the perfect gift in order to spend more time, energy and resources doing for others and our family.

It's not a perfect system but over the past few years it has helped our family focus on commemoration instead of consumption. You may celebrate differently and that's okay, we don't have it all figured out. These are just some simple suggestions if you're feeling overwhelmed or like you're missing something. Advent and Christmas are special times of the year, don't miss them.

Peace of Christ