Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore December! It immediately reminds me that Christmas is coming. I love the Christmas lights, the magic of Christmas Eve, the Christmas buzz in the air, the decorations in shopping centres, and the amazing TV marathons that occur. I love how in Australia, December means that summer has arrived, so beach days, balmy nights and sun dresses are a go.
As Mary Ellen Chase brilliantly put it, "Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind."
Although my love of December is still present, I can't help but feel that Christmas feels a lot different. Although I feel the excitement and the buzz in the air, I can also feel a sense of anxiety and exhaustion. When I was younger, Christmas was THE time of year. I felt my excitement for it months in advance and would always love helping my family buy presents and wrap them in pretty paper. I would get no sleep on Christmas Eve night, which is still my favourite time of year, as my excitement levels would be too high for me to get a wink of sleep.
But these days, it feels different. Although I know one hundred percent that I would be waking up like a mad woman on Christmas morning, waking up my siblings and ushering them to the tree to open presents, I feel as I have grown older it doesn't have that innocent feel to it.
As I have a job now and am working as much as I can, I have to support myself, ultimately meaning that all the presents that I have to buy must be out of my own pocket. As I am certainly not a millionaire, I have been feeling the stress, plus my spontaneous spending on myself has definitely not helped. I never realised just how many people I was responsible to purchase presents for. I never realised the big present haul my parents have had to deal with for so many years!
But that's what Christmas is about, right? Christmas is about feeling the stress and pressure of buying the perfect gift for loved ones, right? No.
Sadly, society has created this pseudo time of year that is full of stress and empty savings accounts, calling it "Christmas" when it really isn't Christmas at all. Christmas is not about presents, it is not about spending a vast amount of money on loved ones or your work colleagues daughter's husbands dog. Sadly, Mary Ellen Chase's quote as been transformed into something entirely different. Society is viewing Christmas as a state of mind in which our materialism and consumerism comes out to play. It is when our greed and selfishness overtakes us, forcing us to pull a sour face when you open the present that contains ANOTHER ugly shirt from Grandma May.
Christmas is a special time of year. It is a beautiful time of year. Christmas should be seen as CHRISTmas, a celebration of Jesus Christ's birth, a time when we reflect on the love and grace that was poured out to us through our Saviour. It is a time when we realise just how lucky we are to have had Jesus enter into our world. Wow. Christmas is a time of year to be spent with your loved ones, friends or family, no matter how big or small the company is. It is a time to relax and even reflect on the year that has been, but has not yet finished. It is a time to even eat delicious food and drink nice wine. It is a season of love.
While I believe in CHRISTmas, I still love parts of the "Christmas" society has created. I love making gingerbread houses, the smell of Christmas trees, the gift wrapping, the shopping, the magic of Christmas Eve, Christmas carols, Christmas lights, decorating my tree, attempting to make creative Christmas craft on Pinterest, and the time spent with my family. It is truly a beautiful time of year.
I am definitely not saying that it is wrong to buy presents at Christmas time, in fact I love it besides the money worries! Buying gifts for loved ones is an act of sacrificial love, when you can express your love and consideration for a person through a gift. It is a way of saying "I haven't forgotten about you" or "I actually listen to what you want!". The time of year gets ugly when all people think about during the season is presents.
To share a little bit more about myself, when I was younger, a family friend of mine always gave me what I thought was "old ornaments that she already had at home." Every time I received one, I always tossed it aside and let it collect dust in my room. It wasn't until this year when that family friend passed away, that I truly felt the impact of her gifts. I felt so saddened and guilty by the selfishness that I displayed all these years. My family friend gave me objects that yes, mostly had come from her own house, but that only meant that she gave me her own possessions. They were once items that she loved and which I now cherish, because I have a part of her that no one else does. She gave me gifts that had come from around the world and which she held so dear, yet she so sacrificially gave it to someone she loved. Instead of feeling annoyed by the gifts, I feel immensely honoured to have been able to have them in my possession. I was blessed and I didn't even know it.
So, before you start stressing about the money you have to come up with to purchase gifts, just remember that the true meaning of Christmas is not about that. You don't need to buy expensive presents for someone; you can just give someone a gift to remember, whether that be quality time or even a handmade object. After all, Jesus gave us the ultimate present, therefore we should display his love and grace through our heart and actions, not through emptying our bank account.
