September 28, 2021

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11
 
Did you know there are only 87 shopping days left till Christmas!?! I am not sure if you have been out shopping lately, but I was in my beloved Costco the other day, and sure enough, Christmas decorations are out. Now, the shock factor has worn off a little bit, but still, September seems a little early for us to be celebrating the coming of the Christ child.

Talking to other friends along with listening to podcasts, I have been told we should get our Christmas gifts now because of supply chain issues and pent-up demand to spend money. Suddenly, 87 days doesn’t seem so far off, and our anxiety is rapidly increasing.

But fear not! There are solutions other than attempting to hoard Christmas presents three months early. I want to invite you to think through your Christmas plans now. How might you introduce or continue traditions that produce meaning over time, perhaps more meaning than a gift that takes up space? 

Now before I get all the hate emails calling me Pastor Grinch, there is a way to be more intentional about your gift giving. A while ago I was introduced to the five-finger gift giving.  This simple rule simplifies the gift-giving process and makes your Christmas morning far less cluttered and far more open for family time. The practice suggests that you give no more than 5 gifts to a person (often a child), and that each gift fulfills one of the following categories:

1. Something to Wear
2. Something to Read
3. Something you Want
4. Something you Need
5. Something to Experience (or a charitable donation)

With this practice, you can ignore black-eye Friday, where retailers want you to think more more more. Instead, you can move to intentional gifts like the ones given to the holy family. But that is a topic for another article.

God’s Peace,
 
Pastor Tim