Pastoring in Mexico does not bring in a lot of income. So , Christmases for my husband’s family were meager to say the least. We are talking about a family where the mother once broke a pencil into thirds so each of the kids could have a pencil to take to school– so it should come at no surprise that Christmases were sparse. Most Christmases consisted of a bag of peanuts with an apple or orange from the church, but Jesse will never forget the Christmas he received a matchbox car. What an extravagance!
Now, although my family was not well off, my childhood Christmases were an abundance compared to the picture above, so piecing our Christmas traditions together as a new family often created conversations that included things like:
Me: “What do you mean you feel strange asking for specific things? How will I know what to get you?”
Or Him: “You really want to do Santa with our kids?”
This clash of cultures was replaced with peace two years ago when we began to apply [AC] to our lives. No longer was it a question of whose culture was right. Instead, we asked: “What is the culture of Christ? What does God want our Christmas to look like?” Our spending has lessened significantly in response. Honestly, our kids have way more than they could ever need– without receiving a thing for Christmas. We are blessed spiritually and physically and that’s what we want our kids to know… and then share with others.
3 comments:
Very well said indeed. I long for the day that we can spend Christmas in Colombia and then maybe my kids wouldn't be such "brats" when it comes to wanting it ALL. We are trying so hard to teach those values of sharing, service and spirituality. A challenge when we live in a world full of materialism and the media bombards them with all these ideas that it's all about things, not people.
Amen! I'm right there with ya on Christmas! We are beyond blessed ;)
Beautiful. The real reason for the season gets overlooked far too often.
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