In the family room, a tree stretched from floor to 12 foot
vaulted ceiling. It was decked and
trimmed from trunk to tip. And yet, a
good quarter of the tree could hardly be seen.
Gifts for the three girls of the home piled waist-deep, completely encircling
the large conifer.
My parents were not wealthy. The older I get, the more I realize how impoverished we were financially. I’d never seen such a gift-giving spectacle. I was, in a word, impressed.
My parents were not wealthy. The older I get, the more I realize how impoverished we were financially. I’d never seen such a gift-giving spectacle. I was, in a word, impressed.
As the dad of four boys, I often faced Christmas as a
daunting challenge. How many gifts are
sufficient? How much should I
spend? How do I strategize a gift that
packs the “WOW” punch and not get diluted with all the other gifts? My wife and I found ourselves wandering the
aisles of Batteries R Us, juggling gift equality based largely on how
much we spent on each child.
Although gift-giving is a long-standing social custom in
most cultures, the reason my family exchanges gifts… at Christmas... is because
we’re honoring our belief that God gave Jesus to the world. We are created in God’s image so gift-giving
is in our DNA. Jesus also received gifts
at His birth. Remember gold,
frankincense, and myrrh? And don’t
forget that Joseph and Mary chipped in according to their means – swaddling clothes.
Those four gifts are the categories of gifts we give our
children every year. (Actually, these
are simply the four gifts we give. Each
child has four gifts under the tree. We
have replaced abundance with thoughtfulness and meaning.) Please take about five minutes and read more about The Jesus Gifts. I hope it inspires more meaningful gifting.
Just today, I read an
article by British man that almost set my blood boiling. The first paragraph really ticked me off, but
I read on and realized how wise his suggestions were. One section heading makes a point that I urge
every gift-giver to consider carefully: “We're
disconnecting from why we give”.
The Jesus Gifts process draws my wife and I into a deep and
thoughtful examination of each child’s life.
Every year, the Gold gift is a celebration of each child’s personality
and bent in life. We usually start our
planning in the late summer. We talk
about each child, what they’re doing in life, what they’re interested in, and
where we see them moving forward.
Gold, especially, is born out of those conversations. Frankincense, myrrh, and swaddling clothes also grow out of those considerations of each child’s life. I hope for you that Christmas gifting is a process (not a purchase) that causes you to embrace each child’s life deeply.
Gold, especially, is born out of those conversations. Frankincense, myrrh, and swaddling clothes also grow out of those considerations of each child’s life. I hope for you that Christmas gifting is a process (not a purchase) that causes you to embrace each child’s life deeply.
It’s not to late to look at The Jesus Gifts and see if it
doesn’t give you some inspiration. I
hope it does. And by the way, Merry
Christmas.
Clark H Smith
