Tis the season
The Christmas season is here, at last. It is in full force, with stores decorated and music playing everywhere. My newspaper has gotten significantly thicker with all the advertising inserts touting “can’t live without” products.
And I have begun my annual search for everybody’s “perfect” gift. I will stress out, over-think, and probably over-spend. I will attempt to dazzle my friends and relatives, amaze my husband with my gift-buying prowess, and put stars in my daughter’s eyes.
Not exactly a Christian prospective on Christmas, huh?
It’s so easy to lose sight of it all. On the one hand, I am trying to teach my daughter about Christ’s birthday, why he came to us. I don’t want her to get caught up in the commercialism.
But on the other hand, I feed the fire by wanting to buy her so much… too much. She doesn’t need it, and neither do I.
I want to teach her one lesson, but my actions are teaching her quite another.
This is one of those times I try to look upward for my parenting skills.
God, our Father, is the only “perfect” parent. He wows us everyday with sunrises and sunsets, with singing birds, vivid colors, love and life. He spoils us with His love, but the “things” of the world that we desire are often not the things He wants us to have.
It’s so important, and yet so very hard, to sit back and let God take the lead over the holiday season. This is His son’s birthday! The same son that He sent to die to redeem our sins.
We need to bring ourselves under control. Of course, the economy will be helping us with that to some extent, but rather than a spirit of getting, we need to be imparting a spirit of giving.
Several families I know take the Christmas season to box up things they no longer need… toys, dishes, clothes, whatever. Then they take the clothes to the Salvation Army or another deserving charity.
There are so many ways to keep Christmas about Christmas. So many lessons to teach those around us about Christ and giving. We just need to put our own wants, desires and selfishness behind us.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Thank You! As I wondered the stores on black Friday looking for the perfect gift I actually was feeling kind of bad for doing so. Not that I don’t want my children to “get” anything for Christmas but really they have so much (and not nearly as much as some kids I know)(What a blessing to be able to say that my kids have so much). I am looking forward to seeing the sparkle in my little girls eyes on Christmas morning when she sees that indeed Santa did remember her…but she is also taught the reason “why” we celebrate…she even suggested that we make cupcakes for Jesus for his birthday…maybe that will be our new tradition started by a 3 year old!