I have memory issues. I can’t remember too many presents that I’ve gotten for Christmas. I remember getting socks and underwear a lot. You might call that cliché, but since it really happened, you would be calling my life cliché, and while that in fact may be true in some; well ok most cases, I know no one that reads this would be so cruel.
Some things that I do remember about Christmas are the trips to visit family like the times we spent singing Christmas carols while grandpa played his guitar, or the trips to play basketball across the street in the frigid Nebraska temperatures with my cousin who was from Florida. That had to be my only competitive advantage. I remember my face and stomach hurting from laughing so much. I remember going to this small town diner every morning to get a cinnamon roll and get the mail and watching my grandpa talk to farmers. I actually have some great memories about Christmas now that I think about it. Here’s the thing that really interests me. I know I got presents. I know my grandparents especially bought a LOT of stuff for all of the grandkids but I just don’t remember it and I’m pretty sure unless something is hiding in a junk box somewhere, I don’t actually have anything that they gave me any more. That is, I don’t have any of the stuff they bought. I have a lot that they gave me as mentioned above.
We’ve been talking at church about how we celebrate Christmas a lot lately since it’s coming up pretty soon. My church does a pretty cool thing around this time of year by challenging anyone who might listen to be intentional about what they do to celebrate Christmas. To “worship fully, to spend less, to give more, and to love all.” The idea is to get people to be more creative about how they give gifts instead of just taking the easy way out and buying a gift card, and then taking the money that they might have saved and use it to do some good in the world. It’s way more than just encouraging a crafting revolution of epic proportions. A bad gift can be made by hand just as a good gift can be purchased.
As a newish parent who is trying hard to navigate how to raise my boys without screwing them up so much that they spend their entire inheritance on therapy (not much so not hard), I am taking this Christmas thing pretty seriously. My sons love Christmas. They love the tree, the decorations, the music, the cheesy Christmas cartoons, the food, everything gets them ridiculously excited. They ask for toys and stuff a lot. The thing that hangs me up about this is that aside from the fact that I don’t have any money, I want to teach them to be intentional about what we are celebrating. If in fact, we were celebrating Macy’s at Christmas and the wonderful things they have given us, the way most do it would make more sense. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars, giving gifts to each other or ourselves (be honest) to celebrate what? For me, I don’t much appreciate the place of department stores or retail therapy in my life. About the only lasting thing they have given me is a headache and an ulcer from the debt I have stupidly racked up. So I don’t want to celebrate them. Also, I believe in Jesus and this is the time of year that we celebrate his birth. The way most of us celebrate, you would think Jesus was not born in a barn while the donkey his mother rode on ate hay around him as he lay in the food trough. Jesus did not value “things”. He valued relationships. He spent time with people, he spoke encouragement and instruction into their lives. When he was down, he went looking for his father to lift him back up. He valued time. The whole reason he came in the first place was to restore a broken relationship. This makes a lot of sense to me because the memories I have are relational. I remember the time that was spent with me. I remember feeling loved and cared for, and I also remember when I didn’t feel those things. That’s where I’m at tonight. I want my boys to remember the time I spent and the things I did with them. I want them to be able to relate to what Jesus prioritized, not because of what they didn’t see and recieve but because they saw it lived well. This is a time of year to love and care for each other. To sit and talk with each other, to play games, to sing songs, to dance, to drink and eat together around a table. It’s a time to talk honestly about what Jesus really wants for his birthday. If I spent a bunch of money that I don’t have on stuff for them that distracted and distanced them from me and didn’t have any significance to them, I feel like I would be missing the point and if I miss it, then they will too. Don’t get me wrong, I will give them gifts this year and I’m sure they will love them but they will be given with the intention of connecting with them and not just something else for them to have.
Some things that I do remember about Christmas are the trips to visit family like the times we spent singing Christmas carols while grandpa played his guitar, or the trips to play basketball across the street in the frigid Nebraska temperatures with my cousin who was from Florida. That had to be my only competitive advantage. I remember my face and stomach hurting from laughing so much. I remember going to this small town diner every morning to get a cinnamon roll and get the mail and watching my grandpa talk to farmers. I actually have some great memories about Christmas now that I think about it. Here’s the thing that really interests me. I know I got presents. I know my grandparents especially bought a LOT of stuff for all of the grandkids but I just don’t remember it and I’m pretty sure unless something is hiding in a junk box somewhere, I don’t actually have anything that they gave me any more. That is, I don’t have any of the stuff they bought. I have a lot that they gave me as mentioned above.
We’ve been talking at church about how we celebrate Christmas a lot lately since it’s coming up pretty soon. My church does a pretty cool thing around this time of year by challenging anyone who might listen to be intentional about what they do to celebrate Christmas. To “worship fully, to spend less, to give more, and to love all.” The idea is to get people to be more creative about how they give gifts instead of just taking the easy way out and buying a gift card, and then taking the money that they might have saved and use it to do some good in the world. It’s way more than just encouraging a crafting revolution of epic proportions. A bad gift can be made by hand just as a good gift can be purchased.
As a newish parent who is trying hard to navigate how to raise my boys without screwing them up so much that they spend their entire inheritance on therapy (not much so not hard), I am taking this Christmas thing pretty seriously. My sons love Christmas. They love the tree, the decorations, the music, the cheesy Christmas cartoons, the food, everything gets them ridiculously excited. They ask for toys and stuff a lot. The thing that hangs me up about this is that aside from the fact that I don’t have any money, I want to teach them to be intentional about what we are celebrating. If in fact, we were celebrating Macy’s at Christmas and the wonderful things they have given us, the way most do it would make more sense. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars, giving gifts to each other or ourselves (be honest) to celebrate what? For me, I don’t much appreciate the place of department stores or retail therapy in my life. About the only lasting thing they have given me is a headache and an ulcer from the debt I have stupidly racked up. So I don’t want to celebrate them. Also, I believe in Jesus and this is the time of year that we celebrate his birth. The way most of us celebrate, you would think Jesus was not born in a barn while the donkey his mother rode on ate hay around him as he lay in the food trough. Jesus did not value “things”. He valued relationships. He spent time with people, he spoke encouragement and instruction into their lives. When he was down, he went looking for his father to lift him back up. He valued time. The whole reason he came in the first place was to restore a broken relationship. This makes a lot of sense to me because the memories I have are relational. I remember the time that was spent with me. I remember feeling loved and cared for, and I also remember when I didn’t feel those things. That’s where I’m at tonight. I want my boys to remember the time I spent and the things I did with them. I want them to be able to relate to what Jesus prioritized, not because of what they didn’t see and recieve but because they saw it lived well. This is a time of year to love and care for each other. To sit and talk with each other, to play games, to sing songs, to dance, to drink and eat together around a table. It’s a time to talk honestly about what Jesus really wants for his birthday. If I spent a bunch of money that I don’t have on stuff for them that distracted and distanced them from me and didn’t have any significance to them, I feel like I would be missing the point and if I miss it, then they will too. Don’t get me wrong, I will give them gifts this year and I’m sure they will love them but they will be given with the intention of connecting with them and not just something else for them to have.
