Christmas Presents

The tree is up.Your house is decorated. All of your gifts have been bought for your family and friends. But, here is the question....Do you take the time to carefully consider each person on your list and to what they may like for Christmas as a gift from you/your family?

I don't know about you but I do. I make a list of everyone that we are buying for and I carefully go through my list name by name thinking of what each person on our list may like. Taking my time to think of that perfect, sometimes unique or unusual gift. Gift cards............are not an option on my list! Gift cards are too easy of a gift, if you are going to give a gift card, you should just send money and let the person shop where-ever they want. Gift cards are a restraint to the person that gets it because they can only shop at where you "buy" the card at and most of the time that card came from your favorite store, not the person's favorite store that you are buying it for! But, it you really really truly must buy gift cards, buy a visa one, at least then the person can shop where they want! This is what my Husband's sister is getting our children, do I have a problem with it, no, because a visa gift card can be used at the KIDS favorite stores. But if you are very adament about getting a "store" gift-card how about buy a little something small to put with the gift card to give that "gift" effect!

The past 6 years while we were stationed overseas our families received gifts native to the country(countries) that we were living in. They have a collection of many different kinds of things from nutcrackers, to little wooden smoker men, to hand crafted wooden figures from trains to ornaments, to family name plaques for their homes, to handmade rugs from when the Hubby was deployed, to wonderful chocolates and candies, etc.These gifts came from the local economy, not the PX!(our family doesn't even shop at the PX here, we got so tired of the PX's when we were overseas, who cares about being tax free!) What makes these gifts special.....they were all selected and picked out specifically for the individual or family by us. We took our time to pick them out a gift, not just grab something to get their name scratched off our Christmas list. We get gifts for people because we care, not because we "have" to. You see, it's not the amount of money that you spend, it's the thought that counts and to me, the time that you put into it.

I am always excited every year to make our list and to begin our shopping. Usually by now I have completed my shopping, but this year I haven't. We have completed and bought for the most important two on our list, our two children. The rest of the list is still sitting there, for me to complete it. But for me, I am still diligently thinking about what I am going to select for the ones on our list.

The same about gifts can also apply to Christmas cards. Do you send out Christmas because you want to, or because you feel that you "have" to? If you feel the need that you have to, don't! There is no rule saying that you have to send out Christmas cards. I remember one year, we sent out New Years cards instead. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not.

Do what makes you happy while you put Jesus first, others second and yourself last.