So unfortunately, Christmas is the shopping season, the time of year when we're most apt to try to fill that God-shaped space, intentionally left for Himself, with the more tangible things around us - stuff and people and . . . the list goes on. Unlike my very loved and organized sister-in-law who always finishes her Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, I barely manage to get presents in the mail before the following Easter. I could tell you it's the spiritual way, but I'd be lying. For some reason I don't plan ahead or stick to my plan even if I do plan ahead in December.
When I was little we had Christmas at our house, then at my grandparents next door, then in the afternoon we went to my other grandparents for dinner and stayed into the evening or went back to my grandparents next door to see my aunts and uncles and cousins.
Our very first Christmas together we had no tree, no presents, no festive food, no decorations. We went to a movie and didn't even have cash so even that was a bomb. That was the year I realized that Christmas is what you make it. You do and you give because it gives you joy to bring joy to someone else.
When the kids were home alot we read the Christmas story all the way through in the different gospels. We spent the Christmas season making crafty things for extended family and food to give. It helped focus the season on making and giving instead of shopping and getting. Now, they have a tiny bit more spending money than they have time, but they're still giving and their giving is relatively simple and always creative.
We walked through fields to cut our own tree until everyone was old enough to walk without being carried, and lost interest lol! Ok, maybe we lasted longer than that. The problem is when you wait until two days before Christmas and go looking for a tree and walking and walking and walking it's not fun. :)
We made ALOT of Christmas ornamants. When we made origami ornaments I understood why Japan has so many engineers. You have to be an engineer to do origami but for some reason they were among the more rewarding crafts we made. One year we used juice can lids, poked a hole in them with a nail for the metal ornament hook and cut and glued photos or magazine pictures on them to remember something God did that year. We hung them on the tree. I still have them and the memories. One year we made clothespin dolls to hang. Tory probably made a soldier or something. Another year a group we were part of exchanged hand-made ornaments with photos on them.
We often picked traditional Christmas crafts or recipes from another country. Christmas carols come from different countries, too, you know. We usually made food for neighbors. We try to see extended family sometime over Christmas week.
My mother-in-law was always surprised that the kids didn't fight or argue over presents. It's probably because we tried to pick something that they had individually and uniquely expressed interest in all year. We focused on tools for exercising their creativity or for doing something they already liked to do taking it to a new level.
Cleaning, decorating, baking, all birthday things. We're remembering the birthday of our Lord, His incarnation. As I say, sometimes my planning ahead for birthdays isn't all it could be, even for Him.
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