I spent a period of about 15 years where Christmas was not a day I looked forward to. Something deep in me is really jaded against the blind materialism and capitalism-at-all-costs mentality that has come to surround this beautiful day. It wasn’t like that when I was a kid.
The last two years has been different, though. For whatever reason, whether it be limited means or sheer exhaustion by the holiday madness (that now seems to begin no later than November 1st), I’ve made a conscious decision to be intentional with Christmas. Yes, I will admit to having set foot in “the great white Satan” store this month -which I promptly stepped back out of. I will also admit to flipping through sales advertisements and feeling the occasional pull of wanting something just because it looks glamorous in glossy print. However, I’ve really worked at being aware of how I feel at this time of year, so as not to let my knee-jerk reactions to the world around me turn me int o the Grinch. This intentionality has helped reveal a few of my favorite things.
This year, I’ve been pondering Mary as she was pregnant with Jesus. As I sat and pondered her yesterday, I was struck by all the things God has impregnated my own life with over the past year. Some things have been seen through to the birth where I now watch them grow, while others continue to gestate. I’ve been in the midst of a big, ongoing project at work, the end goal of which is to employ & empower friends of mine who are struggling to gain a foothold in America. I’ve been pouring myself and my dreams into this -allowing myself to dream again being a miraculous birth of its own! My wife and I purchased a house in August, then navigated several months of bank-mandated renovations. We received the final approval and release from the bank in the days prior to Thanksgiving (and a Thankful day it was!). I’ve undergone some really personal changes in my “life lenses” in this past year, changing the way I look at myself and others. All of this pondering has been a wonderfully centering way to enter into today.
Since my daughter was born in 2006, my wife and I have made at least one homemade gift for her each Christmas. This year, her toy kitchen went into the trash when moved from our old apartment. We didn’t think she would miss it, but in the last few months she’s taken a new interest in helping us cook and in wanting her own kitchen again. So, for the last few weeks, my wife and I have been crafting this up-cycled one from an old nightstand we found at a local thrift store. Ellie was quite fond of it when she pulled the sheet off this morning. I love pouring myself into these handmade, special gifts for her.
E's Christmas kitchen
Another one of my favorite things at Christmas is spotting businesses doing the right thing not because it’s profitable, but just because it’s the right thing. Yesterday, I stumbled across two places here in town that were doing just that. I found a self-service bike pump & repair stand next to our local cooperative grocery store that I’d never seen before.
bike station
I like that was truly usable (nice big pump and a solid components that weren’t flimsy) and that it was free. I like that a company that promotes organics and sustainable living put its money where its mouth is.
Also, there was the local, seasonal ice skating rink. It was closed yesterday evening even as Market Square surrounding it was alive with Christmas Eve shoppers. I suspect they would’ve been packed had they been open, yet they were foregoing the extra revenue and give their employees a night off. I applaud those kinds of business decisions and present them as proof that doing business doesn’t need to come at the exclusion of one’s values.
that was the best. love you.