INSPIRASUNS

I’m guessing like many of you, when the Christmas season is upon us, you reach out to your kids and family for the annual Christmas list. Well, we did that this year as usual. We’ve always had this “tradition” I guess you could call it. When they were little our kid’s lists would hit two pages each. Our youngest, well as she’s grown she even categorizes hers for easy review 🙂 . My husband and I usually have more practical things on our lists. Again back in the day when we were still filling our household with needed tools and gadgets, a list was pretty simple.

This year, however, not so much. Heck, I don’t even have a list from my husband, nor our oldest for that matter. My husband just said, “I don’t have a list because I can’t think of anything to put on it”. Well, that certainly doesn’t help me shop, I thought selfishly.

Then, of course, I take a step back and realize (with the face-palm emoji), duh this isn’t about the gifts. Christmas is never about the gifts, it’s about the act of giving. The gifts were always to signify the joy of receiving the Christ Child on earth, welcoming God incarnate.

If you follow this little blog, you know that my husband and I did our annual Christmas shopping trip last weekend. Well, I must say we were very disappointed and quite honestly bummed. We went to our usual favorite stores looking for just the right things, only to find that things were very subdued this year. Not many stores had Christmas front and center. Even the traditional red and greens were changed to whites and pastels. Hmmm…nah that didn’t work for me. When we got back on Sunday we just felt like our trip was wasted.

What I’m wondering now though is if Father was at work last weekend to show us, it’s not about the gifts… it’s about the act of giving. Were we not able to find the gifts we were looking for because He is showing us there are other ways to give gifts?

This morning as I type this little blog post, I’m thinking about gifts and giving to others. There are so many things we can do, and even new traditions to be made. We can donate our time to local service organizations, we can make cookies and Christmas treats for the local fire stations, or make a blankets for the youth crisis center, there are so many opportunities.

So my friends, this Advent season, instead of fretting about finding those perfect gifts for family and friends, let’s focus more on the act of giving. Maybe even start a new tradition. For us, yes those packages under the tree will be fewer this year because we simply don’t need anything. We have the greatest gift we could ever have, the love of family and friends, and most importantly the love of Father. The Father who gave his only Son for us to live.

Take a look at options this season friends. Together let’s make new traditions in giving. Have a great day my friends 🙂 .

Acts 20:35
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”