How I really feel about Christmas

Man, this already sounds bad. Just by the title. Ha. I'm gonna preface this whole blog by saying that I'm not holier-than-thou. My kid will wake up on Christmas morning with five million (unneeded, unnecessary) gifts from the fat, jolly guy himself...plus two million more from little elves named Mommy and Dada. So....the rest is just my opinion. Here it goes....

My husband has been off work this week. We've been tackling some last minute Christmas shopping. I knew it was getting bad when I heard him singing a newly-made-up version of "Silver Bells" that involved knocking people out in the mall. I laughed hysterically, but, I must admit that I agree with him. Christmas has become ridiculous. Yep, there it is. I called it out. Ridiculous. The more that the hubs and I discussed it, the more we realized that we really end up buying a lot of gifts for people that we really don't know all that well, in order to make a check mark on some random list that doesn't mean anything at all. Whose list? Ours. You know, to keep the peace, to keep ourselves from "hurting someone's feelings". 'Tis the season to crush the feelings of others. "You aren't getting (fill in the blank) a gift?? Oh, well, THEY got you something last year!" "What do you mean that you can't come to (fill in the blank's) Christmas party? What if they die and you never see them again?" Oh me. Yes, 'tis the season. "Oh crap....here comes (fill in the blank)....oh-em-gee, I think she has a gift in her hand for us - oh yeah, she does. Stink. We didn't get her family one! Let's make up a story...stat!" Awesome.

This said, I love the idea of Christmas. I think that the tree thing is super fun and special. I don't even think the Santa thing sucks too bad. I haven't figured out quite how it will go down when we have to explain how we carried on a lie for years on end. I love the carols and the ambiance. I love what Christmas truly stands for. Jesus' birth. The day that some poor, seemingly "knocked up", teenage chick with a terrified fiancee/(husband?), rode into town....probably 41 weeks pregnant (because they didn't induce back then - OH THE HORROR!!!!)...on the back of a donkey and got turned away at a hotel and slept in a manger with animal poop abounding. There she contracted and labored with her scared partner and delivered my Savior. Your Savior. Our Savior. All while Angels sang and a bright star led people to this tiny baby King. Talk about "magic". That makes Santa look ridiculous. That's what Christmas is truly about.

I wonder what Christmas would look like if we focused on nothing but Jesus' birth. First of all, in a society in which we can't utter the words "Merry Christmas" in fear of "hurting someone's feelings", that won't ever happen. Second of all, let's just go ahead and mark all of the Christmas carols that remotely may reference the birth of our Savior off of the singing list. "Silent Night". Nope. "Away in a Manger". Nope. "Joy to the World" - there's a happy one - Nope. How about "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". Yes. Let's sing that one. I think I may start a riot. I think that Rudolph is strangely close to Adolf. Hitler, you know. Far fetched? Emm hmm. I agree, but that's how dumb our society has been recently. I do not know how to get back to the basics. How can we focus ONLY on Jesus' birth? We could "ban" Santa from our house. Honestly, the Santa thing is fun...I don't think it hurts anyone. It is a little "magic" - and it lasts such a short time. We make sure to talk about baby Jesus and about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday. We talk about it a lot. Actually, our kid is obsessed with Baby Jesus....and she wants to pretend like she is Mary. I'd much rather Mary be her role model than that dirty ho Barbie who is all about tight, short outfits, makeup, and an unrealistic body image. We try to talk about giving - and how Jesus came to give us life, and how the wise men came to give gifts to baby Jesus. We try to emphasize how blessed we are and how lots of people are less fortunate than we are and they don't have tons of toys like we do. We try to include W in on purchasing things for those who need them.

I just don't know if Christmas in this mainstream will ever be okay. I think that there is no end to the hustle and bustle. People pepper spraying people over gifts. People almost whooping other people's butts for an ipad (Hey Monica!! Love you, girl!). People pulling guns out over a DS. Dude, I don't even know what a DS is....maybe it's really a PS. Who knows. Whatever it is, I'm pretty certain it's not worth a prison sentence. Why can't we just think about how our real gift - the tiny baby in the manger - came to take us away from all of that crap. He came to live as the template for us. Even if you've only read a few verses of the Bible, I bet you would concur that Jesus wasn't pullin' guns over an ipad. I think Christmas would be better if we just got back to the basics of loving people. Loving each other, giving out of our hearts, not because we "have to" or because we have a $100 limit that we must meet. Just being thankful to see each other and spend time together when we can...not because at 3:30 on some random day is the ONLY time that (fill in the blank) can be there, so you and your family better drop everything and show or we will be mad at you forever. This is not a true statement - so, no one be getting your feelings hurt. Just know that I love deeply. I hold things very internal and close to my heart. I am never, ever an intentional feeling hurter. I just do the best I can.

So....for this Christmas, if only for one day, ignore the fear of hurting feelings, not getting someone the "right" thing, not spending enough, not checking that box that someone wants you to check or that you feel obligated to check. Just love. Just be. Just remember that day, over 2000 years ago when your Savior was born. Make Him a cake. Worry about what HE thinks. 'Cause in the end, how much money you spent on (fill in the blank's) gift and if you showed up at the 3:30 shindig won't matter. But, if you accepted that little baby's gift of eternal life through His death on the cross at the age of 33 and his resurrection on the third day- that will matter. If you lived it out and tried to live life the way He did and relied on Him and shared His gift of eternal life with others - that will matter. People won't remember what gift you gave them for Christmas 2011. Heck, I've probably bought my Dad the same gift 3 years in a row and just don't remember it! People WILL remember how you treat them and how you make them feel.

Merry Christmas :) I'm pretty sure that my next post will be lighthearted. Probably about what I want for Christmas. Told you I'm not holier-than-thou!!! Ha.