This year is already going to be Christian's second Christmas! That not only means that he will actually get into the season a bit more this year, but it also means I have been left debating my thoughts on Christmas gifts at our house and what our approach should be for 3 years now!!
To some extent the jury is still out when it comes to a firm decision about gifts. It's not that I think gifts in themselves are bad. But do gifts blind us a bit as to what the bigger gift of the season really is?
I want Christian's answer to "Why do we celebrate Christmas? or What is Christmas about?" to always be Jesus.
Not Santa.
Not presents.
But can we still teach our kids about Santa, or St. Nicholas, and still do presents while still teaching them the real reason for the season?
I hope so. I really hope so. Because I would hate to take away the magic of Christmas and the opportunity to teach about giving. Even more so I would hate to take away the chance to see my son's face filled with joy as he experiences the magic of Christmas and new toys.
We will be doing gifts at our house. Santa will come.
But Santa won't be hanging over Christian's head all year either. He will be there, but he won't be a motivator for him to be "good" so he can be on the "nice list".
Jesus will be taught year round. Jesus will be the example to follow in how we teach Christian to live...and how we try to live ourselves.
Santa will be the nice man who was a saint and blessed many children, bringing joy to their lives at Christmas time. Even the man who helped to meet the needs of children who are less fortunate.
And "Santa" will be the example that we teach Christian to follow as he shares the Christmas spirit and love of Jesus. Because Santa had the heart of Jesus when it came to giving.
I love the idea that Santa can also teach our kids about grace. That even when kids aren't perfectly good ALL year long, Santa still comes through.
The concept of 4 gifts (a need, a want, something to read, and something to wear) has become rather popular, but I think I'm a bigger fan of the idea of 3 gifts, like was shared on graceformoms.com.
Jesus received 3 gifts - Gold, Frankincense, and Myrhh
Our children can receive 3 gifts as well.
Gold - Something big they've been wanting
Frankincense - Something for their body
Myrrh - Something for their personal or spiritual growth
We have yet to follow this example for our gift giving for Christian. This year he will be getting 3 presents from us, 3 presents from Santa, and a stocking. I believe we did about the same thing last year.
Is this the right way to do Christmas? I don't know. Will this always be how we do Christmas? I don't know that either. But for now, this is where we are at.
How do you celebrate Christmas? Do you do gifts? Do you have any "rules" for how you do gifts? What do you do to keep the focus of Christmas on Christ and not just on presents?
To see Christian's Favorites from last year, click here.
For this year's wish list and gift wins, click here.
Great post Chandelle! I like the analogy of the 3 gifts and Jesus being the reason for the season! Gifts can be so stressful in our household with funds being tight. However I think not having much makes you really appreciate what you do have and God's provision all year long. Giving is definitely greater than receiving and even more so when you have children! It's wonderful to see those little faces light up. Jesus is the reason for every season, especially Christmas! :) I'm going to talk to my SO about the 3 gifts idea!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to convince Jim of the 3 gifts idea ha ha But we do still limit them. And yes! So much pressure to give so many gifts...to everyone! The gift exchanges never end! I'm more about kids doing the gift exchanges...the adults don't need to...But then maybe I'm being a scrooge! ha ha I guess it might partly be the rebel in me...I don't like buying gifts when its something that I "have" to do! ha ha Now if I want to buy someone a gift just randomly...that's fun! :) But yes, I even need to remind myself sometimes that if we are focusing on Jesus all year round, Christmas is just an extra celebration so the presents shouldn't be too much of a distraction for the kids.
Delete