"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
As I wait to hear results from my bone marrow biopsy last Friday, I would like to tell you the decision that our family made last year & have followed through with this year as far as giving and receiving gifts ~ this Christmas season.
My oldest son, Justin (who lives in Los Angeles) and I had a discussion last Christmas about the gift giving phenomenon. He said he thought it was such a waste that we gave each other gifts in our family, that we either didn't really want (just because the other person had to give a gift) or it was things we wanted, but really didn't need...which would be just about everything. We all have enough food, a warm/cool place to live, enough money to pay our bills...I mean really ~ what else do we really need? Yes, it is fun to open gifts & see what other people have picked for you and especially for me, to watch my family open gifts from me...(for me ~ that is the best part of Christmas gift giving). To know that I have taken care to buy something that I thought they would really like or something that they could use...it's a nice feeling.
But he was right...we really didn't need more stuff.
So last Christmas we talked about the idea of not buying gifts for each other & pooling our money and buying gifts for a family or other charity...whatever we felt was the worthiest.
But then March came & with it came my diagnosis and everything else pretty much fell by the way side...until I got a message from him last month about our idea. We started kicking around a few ideas, but had not really come up with anything, then a friend that my boys grew up with ~ Kathleen McNeil Miller mentioned on facebook about a party they were having to collect toys for the over 8,000 kids in foster care in Oklahoma. I thought...that's it...that's where we need to put our money. Here's their link if you want more info:
http://okchristmaswishes.weebly.com
We had until the 18th to pool our money & buy the toys to take to a drop site, where they would be picked up & distributed to some of these children. (You can also get letters from specific kids & buy gifts for a certain child), but we decided this year, since it was past the date to do that, we would just do a BIG TOY RUN and buy as many toys as we could for the money that we had, then they could be used for "fill in" or for the actual present, if they didn't get enough for all of these worthy kids.
Justin sent me his check, I had my money, Sara brought hers & we put it all together & off we went to shop...
I was so sorry that Justin couldn't be with us, deadline to get gifts to them was the 18th & he won't be here until the 21st, but I'm hoping that next year, we can come up with an alternate plan, so we can purchase the gifts & take them where they need to go, after he comes home.
So we started off at Walgreens, they usually have pretty good toys & most of the time their toys are $6.98 - "Buy 2 - get one FREE". We happened in on the week that they were "Buy one at $6.99 - get one FREE", so the toys were $3.50 each!! We filled up TWO BASKETS in about 30-45 minutes...I can't tell you how much fun that was! and we still had almost half our money left!!
So we checked out, loaded up Sara's car -WOW!!!
and headed to Walmart to check out their toys. We found some pretty good deals, but not the mammoth great deals of Walgreens, we spent about 2/3 of the money that was left of some stuffed animals, some games, some teenage girly hair things and nice, soft, furry Christmas throws for $5.00 each (a great buy, I might add) and decided to take the rest of our money back to another Walgreens & buy basketballs & footballs (also $6.99 - get one free). We purchased 4 balls (all they had left & a couple of cute "teenage girl" winter hats)...the cashier rang us up & we had about 75c left from all our bounty!! That was certainly God working with us on those purchases!
We took the loot home, started taking off price tags and lining everything up on the floor for a picture or two.
We got the boxes stacked & all the rest lined up & piled up on the floor...
Basketballs, footballs, sweet little dolls, dodgeballs (Cars & Disney Princesses, who knew?), bracelet making kits, baby toys, cars and "real" dish sets (I loved those when I was little), Mrs. Potato Head,
Soft, winter throws, stuffed animals, baby dolls, balls & balls & more balls, firetrucks, Polly Pocket castle & house, a knock-off of "Lego" sets (but just as cute), Dr. kits, carpenter sets and more & more.
We ended up with 90 items...toys, hats, throws, balls, games, etc.
about a 2 1/2 hour shopping trip that was more fun than I have had in a LONG time!!
Yesterday Sara & met at the drop off point...On-Cue Gas Station on 23rd St & the manager helped us bring everything out of my car into the storage room to wait for the pick-up.
The trunk of my car was FULL...
and the back seat was, too!!
In this season that has changed so much from giving to getting, our family decided to give and here is what we decided to do for our Christmas gifts this year...each Christmas everybody gets a stocking filled (by mom, of course) and since I do my Christmas shopping all year (especially for stockings - I have 13 to fill!!), I already had some stocking stuffers bought for everyone, but I suggested that each person buy one stocking stuffer for each other person (so 5 stocking stuffers each - they could be cute or funny or useful, whatever the buyer wanted to do and they had to be between $1.00 - $5.00 each). AND the second part of the gift giving...(this will be the most fun) - each person has to make something for each other person...they can write a song, a poem, a letter, make a inexpensive craft, but it has to be hand-made and given some thought and specifically for that person.
That's it...that will be Christmas gift giving at our house this year (of course Emma will receive gifts) - I couldn't not buy my newest granddaughter - Christmas gifts on her first Christmas!! And she (and any future grandchildren) will continue to receive gifts until they are old enough to join in with this new tradition in the Ritchie/Young household.
I think this Christmas is going to be very special...it has already been such a blessing for Sara & I to be able to purchase all the gifts that we were able to get and spend some quality time together...I hope that next year we can include the whole family in this gift buying extravaganza and then maybe go have dinner at McDonalds or someplace else inexpensive. That would be a wonderful start to our Christmas season...
Christmas is not about the gifts ~ although there was gift giving in the story of the Wise Men and Baby Jesus...
"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
Matthew 2:9-11
Christmas is about giving...giving to others less fortunate than you, giving of yourself in the form of a story or poem or song or small hand made gift, giving of your heart to share the greatest gift of all - Jesus.
I have two sons and a daughter...I can't imagine giving any one of them up to save someone else. Especially knowing the pain that they would go through...what a special gift God gave us on that night so long ago. Just to save a person like me...What love that is...that gift.
My special gift this year, in the next few days, will be to find out that I am clear of cancer & in remission. My world has been turned upside down this year, but in all that turning I have looked up & found my God again...He was always there waiting for me to come back around, and as I wrote many months ago at the beginning of this journey, I thought I was a good Christian...doing all the right things, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, being involved in church activities..but I really didn't spend much time with Him. I suffered for that & I think He suffered for that, too. He so wants to be involved in our lives & sometimes, we are so busy "living" our lives, we forget to spend some of it with Him. I do that now, almost every morning and I really look forward to those moments, it is such a peaceful time for me...no pressures of the day, not phone calls, no TV, no radio, just silence and peace...that is my gift to myself this year...time with God every day.
I hope that as you go into this next New Year, that you will find the place of quiet peace with Him...whatever that looks like - mine looks like this:
Yours may be in bed at night, or in a park at lunch, or at your desk during a coffee break...wherever it is - I recommend that you find time each day to spend a few minutes with Him, after all, He did give us the greatest Gift that anyone could give...His Son & our lives...
May your Christmas be Blessed & your New Year bright with new possibilities.
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