If you had to choose one word to describe your life as Christmas
approaches, what would it be? I am guessing “busy” would be near the top of
your mind, perhaps followed by “hectic” or even “exhausted.” Since the days
between Thanksgiving and Christmas do not miraculously grow longer, it
should be no surprise that adding all the activities associated with the
Yuletide season overwhelms our schedules and redirects our focus. Our days
are often like an over-stuffed drawer. If we wish to jam one more thing into
them, we must take something else out. Paradoxically, during the season
purportedly focused on the gift of Christ, I realized that He was often
squeezed out of my family’s hearts as the busyness associated with Christmas
pressed in.
Last November, as the specter of
Christmas approached, I prayed about my heart’s desire to remember the gift
of Christ in a way that would be pleasing and honoring to Him. As I re-read
the accounts of His birth, the simplicity and joy of the first Christmas
struck me. I was filled with hope, and longed to begin new family traditions
that would truly bring Christ into the center of our celebration.
As I prayed for guidance, I began to
realize that the number-one distraction in my family was the exchanging of
Christmas presents. Although Christmas was still many weeks away, re-runs of
Christmas-past played through my mind. The children would spend days paging
through catalogues and sale papers, becoming nearly obsessed with their
newly discovered wants and desires. I, in turn, would rack my brain trying
to think of things they could buy for me. Finally, there would be the weeks
of shopping, traffic, and waiting in line. Our thoughts would turn from the
Gift to our gifts. We would spend our time, energy, and resources in the
pursuit of pleasing ourselves rather than serving God.
I thought about the Magi’s example
we allegedly follow. If we truly reflected their model, the Wise Men would
have exchanged gifts in Bethlehem and returned to their homes, one bearing
gold, one with incense, and the other with myrrh. That is not what happened.
Instead, they gave their gifts to Jesus to honor Christ as King. They
sacrificed their time, searching for Him. They gave material possessions to
honor and serve Jesus, expecting nothing in return.
As I considered Jesus’ birth, my
thoughts turned toward our Heavenly Father, the Giver of that Perfect Gift.
I envisioned the Father grieving for His lost creation and carefully
wrapping His only Son in the form of humanity so that He might redeem us
from our slavery to sin and reconcile us to Him. The Father’s great love for
us impelled Him to send Christ to Earth. God said “I love you” when Christ
was born.
How upside-down our celebration of
Christmas seemed to me. While with our lips we acknowledged Christ as the
“reason for the season,” our actions proved otherwise. The Holy Spirit laid
on my heart the desire to exchange love letters instead of gifts within our
family. I talked with Libby about my convictions, and she whole-heartedly
agreed. I called one of our “famous” family meetings, and we all gathered in
the living room. The house was strangely quiet as I read the accounts of
Jesus’ birth and spoke of the boundless love the Father has shown to us. I
shared my heart’s desire to establish new family traditions that would
express gratitude to Him and honor Jesus as our King. I shared the details
of our new tradition of exchanging love letters instead of gifts, giving the
money we would have spent on each other to those in need. (For insights into
the reaction of our children, our 14-year-old daughter wrote an article
about her feelings. Melanie’s essay, Christmas Letters, is posted
under “Christmas Articles” in our article archive at
http://www.turninghearts.com).
After allowing time to think and
pray about our new tradition, I sat down with our children and provided them
a dozen or more options for their giving to others. They thoughtfully poured
over the literature, and we all carefully selected organizations according
to our heart’s desires, ranging from World Relief, the Salvation Army, Mel
Trotter rescue mission, organizations bringing Bibles to Russia, China, and
India, the Voice of the Martyrs, and others. Recently, nearly one year
later, we reflected back as a family on our new Christmas observance, and I
was pleased to see that my children still cherished this act of saying “I
love you” to those in need.
The love letters also proved to be
very meaningful. Since we are a family of six, each person received five
carefully wrapped presents containing heartfelt expressions of love. As my
wife and children read their notes to me, I considered the time they had
spent carefully creating their precious gifts. I rejoiced at hearing them
express, in their own words, their love and appreciation for me. As they
spoke, they also unknowingly revealed to me the actions in which they
perceive me saying “I love you” to them. I cried as I realized that some of
the little things I sometimes begrudgingly did had meant so much to them. I
cannot possibly tell you what I received for Christmas in 2001, but I
carefully treasure in my heart and in my dresser drawer the letters that I
received last year.
This year, we will continue our
tradition of exchanging letters within our family and giving gifts to those
in need. Although we will continue to give to organizations, the Father also
brought opportunities to share directly our time, love, and resources with
others. The quiet peace and joy we now have at Christmas time is amazing. If
the Holy Spirit quickens your heart to forge new traditions for your family
next year, I urge you to follow His promptings and go wherever He leads.
