Giving at Christmas

Today we are blessed with words from my sweet friend Amanda.  She has such a way of getting a point across.

Giving at Christmas…Why?

It seems a common theme we hear every year at about this time—giving gifts at Christmas. It is a sweet tradition to buy gifts for our children and family members. The joy on their faces on Christmas morning makes the planning, saving, and wrapping completely worth it. This Christmas, I’ve been focusing on what I’m thankful for. My husband just finished his time in the Army and we have been experiencing the dreaded unemployment. The last couple of months, I have been half-jokingly saying that everyone can forget about getting gifts from us this year. Cards would have to do. Knowing that our income would be seriously limited, I decided to try to be thankful for what we do have rather than be bitter about what we could have. As I was reading in my daily Bible lesson today, the focus was on Psalm 136. The challenge: Add ten things to the list that I am thankful for because of God’s loving-kindness. Can you do that? I know we are challenged to things like this all the time, especially around Thanksgiving. However, I encourage you to truly spend some time with this one. Truly focus on God’s loving-kindness to you, his beloved, and meditate on this poem.

 My God, I love Thee;

Not because I hope for Heaven thereby

Not yet because who love Thee not must die eternally.

Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me upon the cross embrace;

For me didst bear the nails, and spear, and manifold disgrace.

Why, then why, O blessed Jesus Christ,

Should I not love Thee well?

Not for the hope of winning heaven or of escaping hell;


Nor with the hope of gaining aught,


Not seeking a reward: But as Thyself hast loved me, O everloving Lord!


Even so I love Thee, and will love, and in Thy praise will sing;


Solely because Thou art my God, and my Eternal King.


-Frances Xavier

My one year-old and I were in Belk today. She has a fascination with Christmas trees and “wights!” so, we stopped at the tree by the door. I noticed that it wasn’t covered in ornaments, but rather with slips of paper that said “Be a Santa to a Senior”. I have always had a special place in my heart for senior citizens, so this struck deep within me. I was reading each card. They had the person’s name, age, and wish list. Fairly soon, I came across one for a sweet lady who is 89. Instead of a wish list, she had written that she would like “prayers”. That’s all. Just prayers. What wisdom, simplicity, and love are in that one expression of gratitude to Jesus Christ. We pray to our Maker, the Giver of life because He alone is God. He loves his creation so deeply—enough that He sent His son to save us so that we can spend eternity with Him.


Here’s the problem: a huge chunk of the world’s population are needy. They need the basics like socks, shoes, coats, food, shelter, and even water. Why do we restrict our giving to our equally-well-off family members? I could post picture after picture of starving kids in Africa, Haiti, the Philippines, and even the nooks and crannies of the Appalachian Mountains—right here next to us. I don’t feel that I need to because we’ve all seen them and know of what I speak. Perhaps we get desensitized by it all. Buying gifts for our family members is a beautiful thing, but buying gifts for less privileged strangers is a worthy cause and a self-sacrificial act. My prayer is that we as a Christian body would open our hearts back up to these needs and pour our resources into them as an act of worship and thankfulness to our great King. He loves the little children, all the children of the world.

Amanda


Thanks to Amanda for this challenge!  How easy it is to get caught up in all the gift giving and forget about God's loving-kindness and giving back what He has given to us, love.