Giving and Getting

It is the week of Thanksgiving and I can happily say that I have not listened to a single Christmas song yet! I always try to put it off as long as possible because I know by the end of December I'll be so sick of those songs that I can't stand it. I'm still sick from last year of that song about the boy who wants to buy shoes for his dying mom. WHAT ARE YOU DOING SHOPPING WHEN YOUR MOM IS ON HER DEATH BED?!?!?

I digress...

Have you made your Christmas list yet? Have you had your kids make their list yet? I have always hated Christmas lists and I never could figure out why until today. I saw a bunch of ads for the sales going on this Friday and I kept thinking, "I'd like to have that! OH and that! Oh that would be nice!"

Last year, I went shopping on black Friday. Know what I came home with? A new TomTom GPS... for myself! Ok, I also got some gifts for Megan, but my main goal for getting up so early was to get the unlimited maps edition TomTom for myself.

So today it hit me... I'm REALLY selfish. How did I get this selfish? Why am I so concerned about what I'M going to get for Christmas? And I think I had a revelation.

I think we do our kids a disservice when we have them sit down and write out a list of things they want for Christmas. We are basically enabling our kids to think of their wants and desires and by doing so, we are ingraining in them this idea that Christmas is all about what you got for Christmas. It's usually not till later in life when we try to come back and say, "Oh by the way Christmas is not about getting, it's about giving!" But by the time we try to teach our kids that, we've already told them, by our actions, that it is all about getting. Kids learn much more through observation than they do through instruction.

So I'm proposing a twist on how we normally handle our kids Christmas lists. Instead of having them sort through the online store or the news paper ads to come up with a list of stuff they want, have them sort through all that stuff and come up with a list of things they think each of their family members and friends would most enjoy. If you have two kids, have them come up with a list of items they think their brother or sister would appreciate.

And you do the same thing! As you see the ads this season, resist the temptation to think about how much you would enjoy it, and instead, try to decide which one of your family members, co-workers, or friends could benefit from that the most.

If everyone in your family does this, you will have a list of presents to buy all of them. Then watch your kids on Christmas day and see how they react to one another. Hopefully, they'll still get really excited to open up their gifts. But my guess is that they might get equally excited to see the joy on their siblings face as they watch their sibling open up a gift that they picked out.

Like most of my ideas, I'm sure there are lots of problems with this one. Feel free to pick it apart and point out the realities of what might happen if we did this. Maybe this is a dumb idea. But if you don't like this idea, then reply to this blog and give me your own ideas for how we can bring back the true spirit of Christmas... which is giving.

Thanks

Since this is Thanksgiving Month and I'm way behind on the daily thankfulness facebook and twitter posts, I figured I'd spend some time talking about who and what I am thankful for.

I am most thankful, today, for God. I know that's such a typical Christian thing to do... to put God first in the list. But it's the truth. We are going through a study in youth group right now called GodView. The study is an attempt to help the teens realize that God is more than just someone who wants you to be good and happy. We subconsciously limit God to this little box and think that he can't act in any way other than how we think he can act. We live our lives on our own and then expect God to show up when we need him to. Then we get upset with him when he doesn't show up in the ways we expect him to. But God is bigger than our expectations. God's ways are not like our ways. God's understanding of what's going on is so much greater than ours. And God is in control, no matter how out of control our lives feel. Some people are scared of that idea but for me, I am thankful.

I am thankful for freedom. I have actually thought about this a lot lately. God must place a very high value on freedom. Think about it... when God, who knows everything, chose to create humans, he wanted us to have freedom to do what we want. So he had to design a system to place us in, where we could somehow HAVE the freedom to make choices on our own, even though he would know what those choices would be, before we ever made them. Some say if God already knows how I will choose, then I'm not actually making a choice. But the genius of God shines through with how he created the dimension of time that we are subject to, (and he is not). Without time, free will is taken away because everyone's decisions are made and we lose our ability to change them. But inside of time, we cannot see the future and therefore we have freedom to make those choices without knowing exactly how those choices will effect the future. Freedom exists because God created it. Some might say it is a false sense of freedom. I say, you are free to believe that if you want and I am free to believe what I believe. :-)

I am thankful for loving people who truly consider others greater than themselves. These people are few and far between, and I confess that I am not one of them. But how refreshing is it to come across someone who truly has a heart of a servant? I am thinking of several in my life who have had demonstrated this at times in their lives, and I know of several others who seem to demonstrate this all the time.

I am thankful for people who value honesty and integrity over self-preservation. These are values that are not taught in our culture anymore. These are values that should be praised and rewarded much more than what they are.

I am thankful for people who do their best to seek unity and not division among all people. Whether it be in religion, politics, ethnic/race, gender, age, opinions, or any other differences, unity is of utmost importance. I saw an astronaut interviewed on TV who said that when he looked down on the earth, he didn't see any differences, he just saw one earth and we are all in it together.

Finally, I am thankful for specific people in my life. I actually typed out all the people I am thankful for and there were way too many. And then I realized how many people I would be forgetting if I tried to name them all. So instead of listing them all, I'll just say that I am a blessed man to have so many friends and family. I will try my best to express my gratitude in person sometime this month. :-)