Derek and I have spent much time discussing and praying about how we want Christmas to look in our home and for our family. Last year I was determined that we wouldn't go overboard and we would ask our families not to go overboard either. Santa brought Deacon 3 wiseman gifts and we got him several little things. And yet...Christmas morning as we moved all his presents from all our Christmas celebrations to one side of the room I started to cry. My heart was heavily burdened that their are children in our world without clean drinking water and my child had an over abundance of stuff. This said child was also playing with the remote instead of the new gifts we had just given him. Derek tried to reassure me that we had done our part. We had given to charitable organizations and we had made Christmas special for an 18 month old little girl through Toys for Tots. He tried to convince me that I couldn't let it ruin our special day. I dried my tears for Deacon's sake but vowed that this Christmas would be different. It's so hard to be competing in an uphill battle. Sometimes I feel like it's us (and several of our friends) against the rest of the world.
So what does that mean for Christmas at the Smith house this year. Deacon will still get 3 wiseman gifts from Santa. He wants a brown guitar and a hard case and we pray that he will use his love for music to worship God one sweet day. We have also asked that all our family only get him one present each. Other than that they can get him clothes or money for his college account. I was recently sharing this with a friend and he asked what we would do when Deacon got older and realized that his friends around him got so much more than him. I really don't know the answer to that but I know God will lay it on our hearts as to what we will tell him.
We aren't against buying him material things. He is blessed in that his mommy and daddy love to travel and we take him on several trips each year. He always gets lots of neat mementos while we are on vacation. We also aren't opposed to buying him things throughout the year and no holiday goes unnoticed at our house. But what we can't stand for is the birth of our Savior being overshadowed by material things. We want him to have a heart for the less fortunate and a hunger to change the world one sweet heart at a time.
I've heard people argue that they want Christmas to be magical for their children. Make no mistake Christmas is magical in the Smith home because 2,000 years ago a baby was born in a manger so that we would live eternally in a place far better than this world we live in today. That alone is enough. That alone is a far greater gift than we could ever give Deacon.
Derek took a little boy shopping this past weekend for Shop with a Trooper. He really wanted more clothes than toys because he needed clothes. He also wanted a new Christmas tree because the one they had was small. No matter what provisions we make this is a different world than Deacon will God willing ever experience. He has clothes in abundance and there is no shortage of Christmas decorations. However, we want him to know that these conditions exist and to do whatever he can to give more than he ever expects to receive.
We wish God's richest blessings on your family this holiday season. We are looking forward to spending time as a family of 3 before our world is turned upside down in March!
