The Christmas Rush!

Well, it's here. The good times and all the stress it can bring!

Mimi and PopPop and Aunt Judy helped alleviate some of that stress while they were here. They took the girls out shopping for gifts for each other. It was a great idea I had not thought of before. Each child had a budget and they had so much fun finding gifts for each other. Then they came home and wrapped them up right away. I hope this can be a tradition. I also read somewhere about a Mom who started Mom's Store. She would collect small gifts throughout the year for each child and then set up shop for all the kids. She would change the gifts for each child and they would pay for them with their money just like at any store. The great thing is you get to decide the price, the gifts and the kids still get to have some autonomy in gift giving.


SO this year we got our decorations up quickly because the girls were itching to get their gifts under the tree. Since we had help this last week we decided to try and get all our Christmas shopping done. I am officially D-O-N-E!

We are continually blessed by our Lord, the Provider. We received a Christmas bonus from the church this year. PRAISE THE LORD!! It was totally unexpected and so much appreciated. I was determined to make it work and then God just laid a blessing in our laps! So, I wanted to be diligent to use the money wisely and not use all of it. We talked and decided exaclty what to spend, we set a price limit for each person and stuck to it! Because of the bonus we decided we could make gifts for our Youth workers and Volunteers. The girls and I are going to do LOTS of baking this Christmas. I guess for the amount of gifts we are giving we did it pretty frugally but darn if I didn't spend almost all of that money!

Besides the small gifts for the youth workers we spent less on our gifts than ever before. Perhaps it's because I added it all up so I could see exactly how much I spent but I was discouraged. Dan and I love to give gifts. We find such joy in it. I guess I need to do some more work on how to do it even more frugally.

I guess the real issue is money. The more I try to be a good steward of our money the more tight fisted I become. I hate that! IT'S NOT MY MONEY ANYWAY! How do I balance frugality without squishing out the attitude of giving? It's a struggle for me. The more we budget the more I stress about the money. I am sure that it will get easier. Some parts are freeing for me. I can budget things in and not worry if I am being irresponsible. But at the same time, there is no way to budget everything and when something comes up I panic or get stressed and worry about how to make it work with my precious budget. I know it is worth it.....I am by no means giving up. But I see an attitude emerging that I am not pleased with. The more I think about the money we are given, the more I make it my own. The harder it is to let go.

Every time I turn up the heater I see dollar signs flying away from me. Why am I struggling with this now? Dan and I have always been blessed with what we need when we need it. We have always given freely and found such joy in it. It is time for me to do a deep heart examination! What happened to me? What changed?

All that said, we are still giving freely this Christmas. We are trying to focus more on Christ so our gifts are not the focus. But giving is a BIG part of how we want our children to remember this holiday. I want them to know that it IS more blessed to give than to receive. We are moving one step closer to that this year and hopefully my struggle with frugality will not become their struggle as well. Most gifts take a little bit of money, even gifts that you make. I wish that I could take my eyes off of how much is being spent and enjoy the fact that we are able to give at all!

Somewhere I got the idea that it was important for us to get ahead. Not just financially, but in other ways as well. Saving money and using it responsibly became my way of getting ahead. Instead of blessing God by using my money wisely I got focused on the money. Money is only the means to the end and I am so sick of having the wrong focus.

I would rather spend every cent we have every month and allow our children to grow up in a family that focuses on others rather than have tons of money saved away and grow children that think the dollar amount in the bank is what brings happiness.

But don't worry......I am still going to try and teach them how to make sure that there is some waiting in the bank. I just forgot for a moment that the purpose of budgeting isn't to have more. It is simply to be more responsible with what you have, whether it's a little or a lot. Some of us just have to be a little more creative in how we give to others. I can handle that. As long as I don't stop wanting to give to others.

I pray that in the HURRY, HURRY, rush of Christmas time, and all the joy and stress that it can bring that you will take time to actually enjoy all the things that we decide are so imporant to fit in. And if for some reason you find yourself begrudging the gifts you have to give; office parties, church parties, school parties, school friends, teachers, Sunday School teachers, well, then just don't! No one said you HAVE to give gifts. If you want to and can, do but don't give yourself an ulcer trying to do what you think is expected. It probably isn't. A simple homemade card or heartfelt note of thanks might mean more than that box of candy anyway!

Let's try and keep this Christmas a MERRY one!