John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We choose not to exchange gifts at Christmas. We made that decision after Arielle’s second Christmas, so she does not remember receiving gifts at Christmas. Rachel, of course, has NEVER received gifts on Christmas. Although Sean and I grew up receiving Christmas gifts, I think it was hardest for our parents to digest the inability to lavish gifts on their grandchildren at Christmas time.

As many have rightly observed, the commercialism of Christmas often robs the holiday of its focus on Christ and His birth. We get so bogged down in giving beautifully wrapped gifts to one another because that’s the expectation -- Christ gets lost in the translation. We often overspend in efforts to buy gifts for our children and other relatives who really have no need for what we are purchasing. We get stressed when the most popular toy of the year is on backorder and won’t be available in time for Christmas morning.

Am I saying we should never give gifts? No. But what about the rest of the year? What about when we see others in need in March or April? Do we give then or do we just figure that someone else will do it? Are we still paying off our Christmas debts so we cannot afford to give at any other time of the year?

Our hope is that we develop a tradition of giving of ourselves --our time, our skills, our resources, our testimony -- at Christmas and throughout the year, especially to those who are truly in need.

Our children will never see Christmas as a time to check the toy catalogs and make a list. Our home will never model the association of the celebration of Christ’s birth with material wants. Our children know Santa does not come down a chimney delivering gifts. They know that salvation through Christ is the ultimate gift we will ever receive and that we must celebrate Him every day. We are certainly not to focus on ourselves on a day expressly set aside to celebrate HIM who was born to die -- to die on our behalf so that we may have eternal life. As we’ve heard, “Jesus is the reason for the season” and in our home, we intend to keep it that way.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In Christ, Talya