It was the Tuesday
before Thanksgiving. We had just gotten home from the mall and I rushed to
Lillian’s room to put her down to sleep. She had fallen asleep in the car and I
was hoping she wouldn’t wake up, so I rushed the kids out of the car and ran to
her room! When out of the blue Jack asked:
Mommy, do you think Christmas is a
time when we should be greedy?
I didn’t even look at
his face but I could tell by the tone of his voice that it was a sincere
question. I could picture the wheels turning in his head trying to figure out what
was right and what was wrong.
Oh how this question
convicted me. See I had just spent the last week scourging for Black Friday
deals coming up on Thanksgiving day. I had made a mental and physical list of
all the things I wanted for myself and the kids. I knew I was greedy and it happened every single
year around Thanksgiving time.
For those last two
weeks I had repeatedly asked Jack
what he wanted for Christmas. Grandparents and aunts and uncles wanted to know.
I wanted to know! His answer was too simple: Legos. Nothing else. Not even a
second or third item on his list! There was not even a specific Lego he wanted,
he was pretty much happy with anything. And apparently this had not been good
enough of an answer, so I continually asked him to think about it some more and
get back to me. I needed more details and more ideas! Come on kid this is your
golden opportunity to ask for anything you want… and all you can think of is a
lego?
I didn’t answer his
question right away but I circled back with him later that afternoon. I knew I
couldn’t just give him the ‘politically correct’ answer because this savvy
seven year old would see right through me. I knew I had been greedy myself and
had bombarded him with questions about what he wanted. I may have said with words that we should be generous, but my actions
were not saying the same thing.
That afternoon I told
him that Christmas was a time to think about others. To think about the gift
that Jesus is and that Christmas is a time to love on others less fortunate than us. I also told him it was easy to become greedy and that I myself struggled
with it every year. I shared how the TV ads on toys made it tempting for us to
want more and more things. And how hearing ‘What do you want for Christmas?’
over and over again would make us think more
about us and less about others. That afternoon we prayed and asked God to
change our hearts from takers to givers. And we talked about all kinds of practical
ideas that we could do to love on others.
I’m not sharing this
because there was a happy perfect ending. I have shopped online and still
managed to spend quite a bit of time buying Christmas gifts since then. After all I do have to buy presents for family... but I am now reminded that my children are watching closely. And
that as little as they are, they pick up on things quickly. My hope for them is that they will be generous young
men (or women) when they grow up. I hope they will truly understand what
Christmas is all about one day. And I pray that I will show them by example and
not just by words.
