For a child is born to us, a son is given to us,

The government will rest on his shoulders,

And he will be called;

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince Of Peace

His government and its peace will never end.

He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

Isaiah 9:6-7NLT

The other day my mother and I went to get dinner in an area of town where there are several shopping centers so we were amongst many Christmas shopping crowds. It brought some thoughts to mind. Seeing all the shoppers bustling around buying gifts for their loved ones made me reminisce about Christmas time when I was a little girl. I remember my parents, my little brother and I would always go to my maternal grandparents’ house for Christmas dinner and opening gifts. One thing I’ll never forget is the amount of gifts that were always under my family’s Christmas tree, it was literally wall to wall gifts mostly for all of the children in the family from “Santa Claus”, my parents and our grandparents, our aunts and our godfather. It was always an exciting thing to see as a child. I can remember trying to count how many gifts my name was on and after that I didn’t care about eating dinner, because I was filled with the anticipation of opening my gifts. Another thought from Christmases of the past that I’ll always remember is my Uncle Jake was always the one to come in and make a comment about it being “too many gifts under the tree.” Of course as a child excited to be getting new toys and clothes I never understood why my uncle always made that comment, next time I see my uncle I am going to have to tell him that I understand now. 

Now, many years later Christmas time has changed a bit in my family, we still exchange gifts, because it’s tradition but it’s no longer wall to wall gifts under the family tree at my grandmother’s house. A few years ago we decided to stop giving each other a lot of big gifts, we give one another small inexpensive gifts, what we call “token gifts.” We make sure that the children in the family have gifts to open, because it’s a joy for the adults in the family to watch the smiles appear on their little faces as they open their gifts.

I think people really go overboard with Christmas shopping. I think we all forget that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ. The custom of gift giving on Christmas Day started because the wise men and others who visited the stable where Jesus was born brought gifts for him. Yes, those gifts were befitting of our saviour, but I believe that the thought to give the gift means more than the gift itself. If you me a pair of socks I am going to be grateful simply because you thought enough of me to give me a gift. I think Christmas has become much too much about materialism. Christmas Day in my opinion should be a day (especially if you’re Christian) spent reflecting on the birth of Christ who was born just to make the ultimate sacrifice for all of humankind, enjoying precious time with those you love & cherish most in the world. It’s really not a day to place sole emphasis on giving or receiving gifts.

That’s just my perspective!💜