Many years ago at Christmas time I asked my neices to make a list and send it to me. Adrienne's list had about 10 items on it of typical teenage stuff. Amy's list was about 4 pages long and contained over 100 items with detail about each one. I beleive one of the items was a puppy. How exactly did she plan for me to mail that? But, April had one thing on her list - she wanted Bob and I to come to California to spend Christmas with her.
After that my list started changing. I started wanting fewer things and more meaning. My desire at Christmas changed from what I would get to what I would give. To this day I cannot think about Christmas presents without remembering the heart of a girl and the profound affect that her simple request had on me. I cannot make a Christmas list. Ask my mom, I think it drives her crazy.
When I start to think of what I will get someone it is very personal and often unusual. One year we made all of our Christmas gifts. It was supposed to return us to the simplicity of giving. For me it was a nightmare because lets face it, I am NOT crafty. I spent 4 days and $60 making tie-dyed sheets that I could have spent 30 minutes and $30 to buy. Last year I gave experiences. I loved doing that and the best part was the spending time together.
This year I have been dreading Christmas. Another obligation. More things to add to the to do list. And then I started to remember how my dad would take my brother and I shopping on December 23. We would get up early and head out of town. It was exciting. The shelves would be empty and we would have to dig through stuff and find gifts for people on our list. The joy in finding the perfect gift among all of the chaos. Then home to wrap up our great finds.
If I wasn't trying so hard to be honest I would say something profound here about the real purpose of Christmas. I know that Christmas is about Christ and the gift that God gave the world. I know this but I do not always feel this. Sometimes Christmas feels like an excuse to overconsume. Sometimes it feels empty. Sometimes it feels forced.
What I want this year is for Christmas to be Christmas. A season of focusing on what people mean to me and not what the perfect gift will be. A season for me to focus on the real gifts that we give others - time, patience, forgiveness, love, respect. I'm sure I will do some gift buying. I just hope that I find time to relax and enjoy this special time of year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment