Christmas

Black Friday is coming and people everywhere will be spending too much for things they don't need to please the kids that would be happy with less. My pastor said recently that Christmas has been hijacked by consumerism. The average American child receives 70 new toys each year... most at Christmas. That's just ridiculous. Most of those toys aren't going to even last the year. The bill will last longer than the toys.

I heard some people talking about cutting back on the amount of gifts given to the kids this year. One family said that they were getting one gift each. But that is just for this year. What about next year when things might be better or worse? One family said they were giving no gifts to each other, only one gift each to the kids. I think we have totally lost the reason behind the gift giving. Is it about building love? Gifts aren't doing that. Your time and attention does that. Is it about building character? Seventy gifts per year aren't doing that. If anything it builds contempt. Is it about building generosity? I know I wanted my kids to develop that, so then why did I feel so bad when I couldn't lavish more toys on them?

Perhaps if we each as parents, sat down and decided what it is we really want our children to "have" after the wrapping paper stops flying, we may have a different outlook. It has to be about what we can do for others instead of ourselves that really matters. Maybe this is the year to look around and see what we can lavish on those less fortunate than ourselves. Get involved in a mission project or a homeless shelter. The kids will never be the same.