Merry Christmas!

We have been having a blessed (albeit busy!) Christmas with our loved ones.

Hope you are too!

...'cept, I kinda still like stuff

If you've been hanging around here the past few days you'll know I've been pondering Christmas, and how to make it meaningful, and how to de-consumerize it.

Here's the thing.

I like stuff.

As a young family on a not-so-huge income, Christmas has always been the default time to get stuff we kinda need, or really want.  Need a new coat?  Christmas is coming...Can't quite rationalize a new gadget?  Wait 'til Christmas...

So, what happens when we de-stuff-ify Christmas?  

I guess it means I learn about contentment, about being thankful for what we already have, about being intentional with our budgetting in the future and buying it if it's something that we need or want enough.

But...

in the meantime...

Can I tell you about some of the beautiful things that would be on my wish list if I were making one?

A compost pot from Richard Fisher pottery.

We bought my mom one of these babies for her 50th birthday in October, and I have been hankering after one ever since.  Our usual green bin under the sink just gets so gross, and I hate having to bend down and open the cupboard every time.  This, this would sit on the counter and look beautiful while holding our organic waste, and would get emptied a bit more frequently.  The lid keeps the smell in and the bugs out, and well, I just really want one.

...

'k, so, now that I'm sitting down to do this, I can't actually think of much more stuff.

Well.  How refreshing.

And to think - I have a birthday in January! 

Gifts, and stuff

I had a brainwave this morning.

I don't know why this was so revolutionary to me.  It shouldn't have been.

I was thinking about Christmas, about celebrating, about being true to what it's all about (Jesus, in case you weren't sure.  He left Heaven and came down to our messy earth to make it possible for us to be part of returning the world to how it was intended).

Often, that train of thought ends with "we have to do Christmas without presents."  And then I feel like the miserly family member, trying to bring up the "we don't want it to be all about gifts this year..." conversation.

It hit me this morning.  Gifts and stuff are not the same.  We can give gifts without giving stuff.  We can give and give and give without buying, wrapping, accumulating.

Excessive giving doesn't need to be equated with excessive stuff.

What a glorious realization!  What a freedom!

Give!  Give!  Give!

Give because we have received SO much.  Give because our God gave of himself.

Give like he did - to those who needed it the most, to those who will appreciate it the most.

Suddenly giving at Christmas doesn't need to be finding the "right" gift to fit on the blank beside the tricky person to shop for on my list.  Suddenly it doesn't need to be spendingspendingspending to find that thing to put under the tree, that thing that might sit there for a week before we pack up Christmas and find the right corner to put it in, if we don't take it back 'cause it didn't fit.

I read a great idea over at www.aholyexperience.com that left me misty eyed and excited.  The writer shared what they do in her family on Christmas morning, without a gift exchange.  They get gift catalogs for various charities, and as a family pick out together the things they will give to those who need them most.  They think about what things they might want if they were in a different situation.

I absolutely love this idea.  I've known for awhile that I've wanted our Christmas not to revolve around gifts, but haven't quite figured out what that looks like, and how to make it fun.

This morning, I realized I do want our Christmas to revolve around gifts.  Great gifts, meaningful gifts, lavish gifts.

Just no stuff, 'k?

Christmas Change from Kujilana on Vimeo.