My Christmas's have always been magical! Beautiful decorations, a big real, live tree, and of course, lots of presents under the tree. I feel happy and content when I think back on those magical childhood Christmas's. Mom and Dad watching us open our presents and hoping to see excitement on our faces when we opened each one! Of course, we were so excited!
We always recieved Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve from Mom and Dad and in the morning, there we were, my 5 brothers and me in coordinating Christmas pajamas, unwrapping paper that looked a lot like our pajamas! We had so much fun! It was like a scene out of....hmm....was it Good Housekeeping magazine, A Norman Rockwell painting? ....Or maybe it was simply a messed up living room with crazy-haired children in red and green pajamas!
Anyway, it seemed magical to me.
And when I think back, I barely remember what the presents were. It was the experience of it all and all the LOVE that went into Christmas!
Here we are~eight weeks to go before Christmas and with our first paycheck in quite awhile, I am thinking about how to keep Christmas magical and simple at the same time. I DO NOT want to forget the simple and sufficient way God has taken care of us during Lenny's unemployment. I DO NOT want to forget the blessings He has shown us. How easy it could be to start living high-on the-hog! From very little income to an actual 40 HOUR A WEEK PAYCHEK! WOW! We can live HIGH ON THE HOG NOW!
But I long for a simple Christmas. To remember that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did not even have a home to lay His head when He preached the gospel on this earth! He was born in a barn with the animals and died on the cross without a home to call His own and here I am already making out my Christmas shopping list with our first real paycheck arriving any minute now.
I never want to forget the only TRUE gift of Christmas!
I would love to hear your ideas for a simple Christmas and how magical it can be!
Please post a comment and I thank you in advance! And as I come up with my own ideas I will share them with you!
Love, Laura
14 years ago
11 comments:
I remember my cousin Brita sharing this one with me years ago. Three gifts - one for the mind, one for the heart and one for - I forget just now - shoot.
I do tend to throw in one clothes into the mix too.
We give 3 gifts for each child (3) becouse baby Jesus received the 3 gifts from the Maji (sp?) Then I would really think of something they would really like or sometimes just what is needed (exp: socks) then santa brings one gift for the whole family like a great new game we can all play. We had to start this years ago when money was tight but we are still doing it becouse it is great reminder.
When I was young we moved to germany and all our household goods would take 3 months to get there and then my dads paycheck was messed up we and had no pay for a long time. There would be no gifts that year but we had real candles on the tiny xmas tree and gifts was 1 piece of fruit and one piece of candy for each of us. It was the best xmas and me and my brothers all have the picture of us up by the tree sitting out in our homes. We were safe and all together and we read from the bible and sang songs.
Sorry so long.
I don't remember the reasons, just that 3 is the perfect amount because that's how many Jesus received from the wisemen....? Maybe I'm wrong on that. But I love the idea of a simple Christmas. WE are so guilty of overdoing.
I love all of these ideas and stories. How wonderful to be able to share in this way! Thank you all!
Back in the "olden" days in Finland and Sweden, they used to do gifts on Christmas eve because Christmas day was reserved strictly for going to Church and celebrating Jesus' birth. It was described by my Grandpa as a very joyous day with Church bells ringing, everyone walking to church in the snow, feeling so happy. We've certainly strayed from that in our society.
i agree with all of the posts about as you can see! I too was thinking that you could simplify Christmas and keep the focus on Christ by doing gifts in the them of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh . . .They all have great significance and if you look i think it could be quite fun! as a matter of fact we do a sister's exchange and i think i am going to take my idea and do that myself! find something that represents each one of the gifts Jesus got from the Wisemen!!! Hope this is sorta an idea you were looking for!
Love,
your cousin
p.s. i remember when we would get pajama's from gramma storm every Christmas Eve too! I cherish those memories always!
Hi Laura. I'm cousin Brita mentioned above. :) I'm Judy E's daughter. Anyway, as Sharyn said, I try to stick to 3 gifts, one for mind, one for heart, and one for hands. It seems to work. This year, my husband is in college, so I did a lot of garage saling for Christmas. I already have a heaping pile (x country skis, books, board games), and it probably cost me a total of about $20.
I love Brita's idea. We have kept it simple for many years now...but with no set plan. They have gotten something they want that isn't too pricey and things they need (clothing, etc.).
I also have the kids go through their toys/books before Christmas and donate the ones that are still in good condition to one of the local charities, for many this is the only Christmas they get.
I agree with going back to a less commercialized Christmas and more of a meaningful Christmas.
Larry is going to be heading North to work for the next 7-8 months so we will be happy just to have him home with us for Christmas...
I was thinking it was hands - but then was overthinking and thinking that mind and hands could be the same thing, I think. LOL
I love all of the ideas! I remember reading about the "olden" days as mentioned above about how St Nicholas came on a separate day and that Christmas was reserved for Christmas. I remember thinking that I wished it were that way here. I think that maybe I will consult with Santa to see if he could come just a tad earlier this year so christmas morning will be a little less hectic! I also love the little tree with the real lights idea, Lori! I spent way too much on a real tree last year and I am not doing that again! I had about 8 little children with me when we went to the nursery to pick out a tree and we were all caught up in the Christmasy 'moment'. I never looked at the price tag until I went to pay! $80 dollars! I should of had the boy bring it back out, but I felt too sheepish with all the little children around so I just bought it! Can you believe it? Never again! This year I want a little Charlie Brown tree! We had one like that in Australia that we bought for $5 on the side of the freeway and it was perfect then! So it should be perfect now! I will also be Thrift store shopping like some of you. I did find our big boy, Shane, a nice Land's End wool shirt for a few dollars at the Goodwill store. It looks brand new and I know he will love it! He shops at Salvation Army himself! I appreciate all of the encouragement and wonderful ideas! I believe we CAN take the stress out of Christmas and just enjoy it for what it is! CHRISTmas! Thank you all!
We always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve growing up...and now we still all go to my Dad and Mom's on Christmas Eve. It was a tradition passed down from my Dad's childhood...I'm going to ask him if they celebrated it on Christmas Eve for the same reason you mentioned.
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