It begins! A "Christmas" story of giving gifts...

Merry Christmas EVE!

I let the kids open a couple of Christmas presents this morning. They (or was it I??) just couldn't wait for them to open.

To be honest, every year I'm a little bit torn about the whole "gift giving." I LOVE to give my kids gifts.  On the other hand, turning Christmas into a present extravaganza seems wrong to me for obvious reasons. However, we live in a country where Christmas- unfortunately-  has become extremely commercialized. Not even in just the last few years. It's been that way ever since I was growing up. And when I think about Christmas when I was growing up- I remember the incredible excitement and fun of looking forward to opening presents. As a child, our Christmas' were FILLED to the brim with presents. Too many. Trust me.

Which brings me to the conundrum that I face each year. Do I skip out on presents all together to teach my kids a lesson? Which seems entirely unfair to my kids. Do I give just a couple small gifts? But then wonder- if I give 2, what's the difference between giving 2 or giving 4?

I have truly struggled with this for several years but finally feel like I've come to the answer...

For us, "Christmas" is not defined by one day. It is not 'one' church service we attend once a year. It is not acknowledging Christ's birth 'one' day throughout the year. It is not trying to pretend that we give each other presents to somehow symbolically represent gifts given to Jesus at his birth. I've come to realize that all of that is just trying too hard to make it something that it's really not.

In our family, we celebrate Christ's birth throughout the year. He is not acknowledged just one day - which happens to be December 25th. He is talked about every day... throughout the day. He is part of every single day of our lives. And it's not only on Christmas that we celebrate His glorious birth. It's truly something that our family celebrates, discusses and recognizes throughout the year. On most days, at least one of my kids thanks God during their nightly prayers for sending Jesus to earth for US.

So that leaves us with Christmas. What to do. Gifts? No gifts? One gift? Three gifts?

For me, it doesn't matter anymore. We've come to explain to our kids that they are giving and receiving presents because it's a fun thing to do once a year. It happens to coincide with Christmas. We wish it didn't- but that's what American's do. So we give our kids gifts. We don't pretend we are giving gifts to each other on behalf of Jesus. Frankly, that's just too phony. And, honestly, when I think about myself- I realize that all of the heaps of presents I received on Christmas' growing up did not shadow or negate or in any way diminish the love I had and continued to grow and develop for Jesus.


 
We don't spend the entire day exchanging gifts. But we do take our time. Because it's fun. Because I'm a mother and I don't know what Mom doesn't absolutely revel in seeing her children's face light up when they open a gift you chose with care and love.
 

And when we are finished opening gifts, we spend time together as a family. Playing, eating, sledding, listening to music, playing new board games... just loving each other.

Yes, we read the Christmas story. But that is not something we do only once a year. It's a story that is shared many times throughout the years.

I feel so thankful that my kids love Jesus. They really, truly love Him. He is the center of their parents lives... and my heart is overjoyed as I see then choosing- for themselves- to make Him the center of their lives as well.

 

That's not something that happens by celebrating Christ one day a year on the 25th of December. It's a choice they are making because they have come to know Him and love Him by seeing His goodness, protection, provision and love become evident in their daily lives.

So on December 25th, we will celebrate the birth of Christ. We will open too many presents, stay up too late and eat too many Christmas cookies. 

But the celebration will not end on December 26th. We will continue to celebrate His coming throughout the year. 

May you also feel the LOVE and presence of our savior on this day and EVERY day.