The Christmas Advantage

The story of Christmas growing up in my family was a story of learning what the essentials were without some of the distractions.

Have you ever said or felt like certain things had  to be there for it to be Christmas? “Why it wouldn’t be Christmas without an eight foot natural Christmas tree…” “It wouldn’t be Christmas without  this recipe…” “Oh no, I’ll ruin Christmas if I don’t get this…”

I don’t really have that feeling much. On Christmas Day, I’d rip open rapping paper and I’d find  presents and they were fun. Did I care there were board games from the 1970s? No. Did I care that the toys weren’t all new? No. Did I care that some were from discount stores? No. It was Christmas.

I remember during a previous recession, my dad told my brother and I that  Christmas was going to be tight and we weren’t going to have a whole lot of presents. He was very apologetic about it. My brother and I didn’t complain. And on Christmas, we opened the presents and we were happy. They were small, inexpensive gifts but perfectly fit for two little boys. I remember one of my favorite gifts, one I had actually seen on TV: It was a slinkie. A couple years later I saw it in the store for $3.

I imitated my dad’s frugality. I’ve never been a rich person, but I’ve always tried to find a present for everyone on my list. They’re usually inexpensive, but I try to remember the lessons from my youth. It wasn’t the amount of money the gift cost. It was being remembered and loved.

Ultimately, my parents tried to keep the focus of the Holiday on God’s gift of Jesus, and if you have that gift, everything else is gravy. The reason to even exchange gifts is to remember God’s gift to us.

Of course, that’s not to  say that my parents, particularly my dad, weren’t at times bothered by the Christmas season and the fact that they couldn’t buy as much or that my presents weren’t as nice as someone else’s was. I could tell it bothered dad. So many of us guys go crazy around Christmas on wives and kids because being able to do so makes us feel good. It makes us feel like we’re good providers and good men. And if we can’t give them the best, we feel like we’ve failed them. 

Being married with an, at times, meager paycheck, I’ve felt the apprehension of buying a present for either birthday or Christmas I can afford rather than what I really wanted to give and just hoping my wife would somehow like it. 

This year, a lot of people will have leaner Christmases. Because it’s a lean Christmas, that doesn’t mean it has to be a poor one. As was the case with Abraham, God has provided the Lamb, the ultimate gift. And the most important gifts you can give your children in addition to this cannot be bought with Visa, Master Card, American Express, or Discover.