Christmas gift giving

I want to thank all of you again for your input on this topic. I promised to share the outcome of my soul-searching, prayer, and conversations with my husband. Let me say this…it is not what I wanted or expected when I first wrote this post last week! I had it in my mind that a drastic reduction in gift-giving or dropping it altogether were the only options I’d be happy with, or that God would want for us. Well, we have decided to continue giving gifts to extended family as we have the last few years. Why? Well, as we were discerning this, I had a conversation with my sister-in-law that let me know just how painful any change would be to the current arrangement and that the fall-out from our decision would be one that would cause so much hurt, it would not allow us the peace we wanted. Is that a cop-out? Honestly, no. As I was talking to her, I simply had a God-moment where I knew that this is what we had to do.

Would I rather not do so many gifts? Yes, absolutely. In my perfect world, gift-giving would be very minimal. But we are still in control of what is given, whether it is handmade, hand-me-down, or purchased (and through all of this, my husband offered to help out with it!). And for some reason, all of this together gave me what I have been seeking: PEACE. We have chosen to look at this as a sacrifice that we will make for family unity, in the name of love. No, we will not go into debt over this, or give in to excessive/inappropriate gift wishes made by others. I plan to do as much of the shopping/making as far before Christmas as I possibly can so that my Advent/Christmas season is what I wish it to be, free of too much focus on gifts.

So, God indeed answered my prayers and He’s asking me to make a sacrifice. I will do it…for Him!