Monday December 6, 2010 
"I look around, and it’s stuff, stuff everywhere! We all have much more than we need, and all the kids can talk about is Christmas lists."
"How can I concentrate -- and help my family to focus -- on the reason for the season when everything around us screams, 'Buy, buy, buy!'"
With the push to Christmas all around, it's hard to stave off the anticipation. Why not play off it, using the early push to give you that much more time to build up to the meaningful roots of Christmas -- Christ's birth.
Count up the days till Christmas, then plan to focus on:
- A verse (of the Christmas story) a day
- A Christ-centered song a day
- A gift a day for someone else
A gift a day for someone else? How can you do that? Be creative. Print yourself out a December calendar, and think of those you want to thank or love or appreciate. Put a name in each square leading up to December 25th.
Chances are, what others need most is your love and your time – not more stuff. How can you – or your family – give gifts to the people you've placed on your calendar this month?
Think small but thoughtful. Write a note to a neighbor and let the kids illustrate it. Stop as you drive out of the neighborhood and throw a few papers from the driveway to the doorstep. Call someone you know who’s sick or just busy and ask if you can pick up something for them while you’re at the grocery. Offer to mail packages for an elderly neighbor.
Your children can see, hear, and be a part of real giving this month. Don't let the opportunity pass you by!
Those things don’t just happen. You have to be intentional about giving gifts of meaning. So sit down and plan a way to make December more meaningful than ever this year. It’ll mean more to your family and to those you touch, too.
I’d love to give you, my reader friends, the gift of time…but it’s slipping away from me at the moment! Our school’s big Madrigal Dinner is Monday and Tuesday nights. I write and direct the drama, and it’s quite the production. Busy, crazy time for us. I drag my husband into the technical aspects, so he’s just as busy as I am! Later this week, I do hope to visit around and do a lot more commenting than I have in the past week. Don’t give up on me…I’ll be back!
Do you have plans for avoiding the plastic and making this season a memorable one – for your family and for those around you?
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5 comments:
Great idea, the calendar! I'm off to a good start--made meatball muffins for my neighbor yesterday...
What fabulous suggestions! Great way to start the week, Laura. Good luck with your "doings"!!
Laura,
I love all of your ideas here. In fact, it was you who inspired an idea my kids and I are doing for my mom who is having a rough Christmas season.
We are taking the song "Twelve Days of Christmas" and sending her 12 letters with our rewritten version of the song complete with pictures and photos.
Good job pushing all of us.
Good luck with all of the school stuff. I know now is a CRAZY time of year to be a teacher!
Love your idea of purposefully gifting others. Great suggestion. :O)
Love this idea. We could use it around valentines day or other holidays too in case the bush Christmas season is too much. great idea, Laura
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