Oh My Gosh! There are only 19 days until Christmas! There are so many things I have to do to get ready! I wish I had more time and it sure would be nice if I had a clone.
Are you stressing about Christmas which is almost here? Do you have to work overtime every day this month to pay for the gifts you are buying for everyone for Christmas? Have you maxed out your credit card buying presents for your family and friends?
I hope you have answered no to all of the above questions. First of all, Christmas should be a season of love and goodwill. The parties give us the opportunity to gather with friends and celebrate the season. Buying gifts for family and friends should not be a chore nor should it break the bank. We don’t need to spend a lot of money to show our loved ones and the people that are already special to us how we feel about them.
So many people get depressed during the holidays than at any other time of the year. In my opinion, some of these depressed individuals are someone’s relative or friend that is living alone. Many of our older relatives and friends that live alone do not see us as often as they would like. During Christmas time, a gift is a lovely way to remember them; however, a more memorable gift would be to visit them once a week, every week. Don’t just promise them you will visit more often, DO IT. The greatest gift of all is LOVE!
Feeling stressed about Christmas is definitely not the way to enjoy this wonderful season. After all, Christmas is not just decorating your house, getting your Christmas cards addressed and mailed, buying presents for everyone you know, going to dinner parties and get-togethers, etc. I think many of us have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus! God sent his Son, Jesus, to live on earth and save us from our sins. The story the Bible tells us gives us the reason for celebrating Christmas. Mary and Joseph (Jesus’ parents to be) couldn’t find a room at any of the inns in Bethlehem. The stable was the only place available for Mary to rest before she gave birth. She gave birth to Jesus in the cold, but in a less windy area, in a stable. I just can’t imagine giving birth to a baby in a stable, can you? That must have been an ordeal. Thankfully, according to the story, God relieved Mary of the discomfort.
A Star provided an unusually bright light in the sky as soon as Jesus was born. Three Kings from countries East of Bethlehem saw the star, and came bearing gifts to present to Jesus, whom they believed was a King. These gifts symbolize our gifts to one another and our loved ones. So you see the gifts we present to the people we know and love, and hopefully the gifts we give to those less fortunate (our favorite charities) are symbols of our love for Jesus. If we are giving gifts in the name of Jesus, then we are giving for the right reasons.
The gifts you give to people on Christmas should be from your heart. They don’t have to be expensive. I realize that everything in the stores is expensive. Even with the retail stores having “Black Friday” sales every day, buying presents for everybody can take a lot of money from your checking and savings accounts and your credit cards. Some families are only buying presents for the children and are choosing one family member’s name. That way, each family member will have a gift, and you won’t have to buy a present for everyone.
The moral of this article is Christmas should be a season of Love and Giving. We need to give from our hearts, not from our pockets. If the holiday season gives you a lot of stress, sit down and think about what it is that causes the stress. Find out what it is and eliminate it. Christmas should make you happy, not depressed and overdrawn at the bank. Think about it. If you have the money to spend on a lot of gifts, knock yourself out! If you don’t have a lot of money, give from your heart.
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