Christmas Conspiracy

Christmas truly is my favorite time of the year. I love all of the decorations, the food, the cold, the presents, the food, the get togethers, the food. I can say with my entire heart,that I love giving gifts much more than I like receiving them. I love watching someone light up as they open the present that I picked out for them. I may have spent hours online looking, I may have been walking the mall and it jumped out and screamed their name, or I may have been in line at 4am on Black Friday just for that special person. Regardless of what I went through to get the gift, I see magic happen when they open it. (Even if the magic only happens in my mind.)

Well for this upcoming season Hubby and I began to talk. In the past we have done 3 gifts for each child. Of course they still get from each other, grand parents, aunts and uncles, friends, etc. So let's just get real, our attempt to simplify Christmas really goes unnoticed because of all the gift giving around us. So this Christmas we have made the decision to not "buy" the kids anything. Instead we are going to create memories. We are going to brainstorm and get ideas of fun things for our family to do and then wrap 'em up. On Christmas morning the kids will unwrap packages that contain pictures of what memories we are going to create. Example: a picture of someone ice skating. Then in the days to follow we will all go ice skating. We will also be focusing on giving to the needy. Our church is going to do a series called Good Will Toward Men. The point is focus on others. We will be giving to charities that are local and global. Basically our church will be challenged to give to the needy ALL of what they would be spending on presents at home. It is a pretty radical idea considering the trends of society.This idea came from a blog called Christmas Conspiracy . Last years spending was around 450 billion for Holiday spending. Holiday spending is defined as spending during the months of November and December. Most retailers make 50% or more of their yearly goals in those 2 months. Imagine for a minute what the world could do with 1 billion dollars let alone 450 billion.

When I think through all of this there is a side of me that is sad. Sad that I won't get to go shop for that "perfect gift". I am nervous that somehow the "magic" of Christmas will be gone. But then I am quickly reminded that it is The World and society who created this magic. It is commercialism that paints the Hallmark Christmas Eve picture in my mind.
The real magic happens when we LoveGod LoveAll.

I pray that this Christmas impacts us for the rest of our lives. God help us to truly impact the world. I pray that new traditions begin and commercialism in our home dies. May we shine your light into the lives of people who do not know you.