The Reason for the Season

It is Christmas time again, the time for Peace on Earth, Joy, and Love for all Mankind. And Road Rage. And Debt. And fighting over that special item that there is only 1 of in the county and, Danggit, your kid is going to have it!

Why is it that all you have to do is mention Christmas shopping, and all common sense completely disappears? People will spend hours in a mall wearing out a credit card buying expensive gifts for people they barely know, but they will not spare a dollar's worth of change for the bell ringers by the door?

We hear, "Remember the Reason for the Season" and hear Christmas carols praising God and announcing the Birth of Christ, and we might even sing along with them, but the words are just words to us. We are too caught up in the search for the perfect gift or some other such garbage. Do we really think Jesus cares whether or not your Mother-in-Law gets a cashmere sweater for His birthday?

Most of the time, the thing most people would prefer to get would be the money you spent on the gift they don't want or need. All of us, and I do mean every single person, have more crap laying around the house than we care to admit. And I would be willing to guess that if you opened up that back closet that you only use for storage, you would find several items that were given to you at Christmas. We spend hundreds of dollars every year swapping crap.

Instead of buying hundreds of dollars worth of future yard sale fodder in Jesus's Name, why not take the money you would have spent and donate it to cancer research? Instead of buying 2 games for your child's new gaming system, only buy 1 and give the other $50 to a community charity. Or buy $50 worth of food for the food bank. Or buy blankets for the homeless shelter.

Or...spend the time you would have spent Christmas shopping and volunteer!

If we are truly celebrating the Birth of Christ and all He teaches us, do what he wants us to do! Give to those less fortunate. Help those in need. Give joyfully of ourselves. Spend time with friends and family. Celebrate God's love for us and be joyful!

It isn't about who gets the biggest present or who spends the most money. And it most certainly isn't about the corporate profits.

Christmas is about loving and giving. Joyfully and without hesitation.

Crafting in Arkansas

Well, it has been busy around here again. Between chasing the boy for scouts and marching band, we are also starting to think about the holiday season. And we have started a new learning experience toward self sufficiency. We have started home brewing.

I know it sounds just a bit nuts, but it is one of those things that if they economy really does tank completely, we will have something available that we will not have to buy. The ingredients aren't that expensive and it is more learning the process than having vast quantities of beer and wine around the house. It will get used eventually. And it is kinda fun. Now we just have to see how it turns out.

I have also been trying to use up all of the yarn I have hanging around the house. I have made something like 25 hats in the last few weeks and several scarves to go with them. These will probably be Christmas gifts for friends and family. They didn't cost much, look nice and are actually useful. Much better than giving a gift that will just collect dust or take up space in a closet until a yard sale happens. I still have lots of yarn left, most of them small or partial skeins, so I may just make hats until I run out of yarn and donate them to a homeless shelter or something. At least it gives me something to do and gets rid of some of the "stuff" hanging around the house.

I also recently completed an afghan for my sister-in-law. She was the last one in the family to get one and I felt really bad about it taking so long to get one made for her. So it is an especially nice one. I got some really expensive yarn from a clearance rack for about $1.50 a skein. So I made a $70 (retail price for the yarn) afghan for about $18 dollars. I thought that was a very good deal on a very nice, soft, cuddly blanket.

Being "crafty" gives me a lot of satisfaction. Handmade gifts seem to be appreciated, they are less expensive than the store-bought versions, and it gives me something to do.