And I must admit it has been a little chilly and the fact we live in an older house with a tad bit of draftiness adds to the chill factor and guess who didn't have the gas turned on for the first little cold snap! Yep that would be me! We managed and added on a few blankets to each bed. We survived I am happy to say and the gas is now on so we have heat!
I was reminded of how blessed we are even if my kids might disagree. Even though we didn't have heat we had plenty of clothes, blankets, and shelter to keep us warm through the little bit of cold weather we Texans faced. And the cooler temps (and the help of the early Christmas advertising) I am reminded the holidays are just around the corner!
This year we decided to celebrate the holidays a little different. I have shared before how we are trying to live simpler lives. Simple house. Simple school. Simple. Which translates to less. Less space. Less things. Less. In hopes we have more. More time. More life. More money (or at least not have to work as much). And see God more in our lives.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:19-20
So we are carrying this simple strategy over into Christmas this year. Do we ever really need more stuff? I knew we really don't NEED anything but we have a long list of WANTS. So this year we are having a fiscal fast for Christmas. You might ask what exactly does that mean. Well....it means we are not purchasing Christmas gifts this year as a family. Now we will still participate with my extended family exchanges (no worries cousins, nephews, and nieces!). The kids will get a small item for Christmas morning and I am sure my mom is going to make up for it (as she usually does) with a great gift.
So you are thinking "NO SANTA?" Well let me go ahead and kill any fond thoughts you might have had about us. Santa doesn't visit Dublin Lane. In fact the kids, since being with us, only had Santa visit one year. We decided early on in our parenting adventure not to participate in the holiday tradition. Now we are not the Grinch family and we do not ruin it for others or teach the kids Santa is bad. Santa visits to the school when the kids attended public school were always worrisome. I could only imagine the Morris kids ruining Christmas for some sweet child but thankfully that was never the case.
Okay so you may be asking yourself why would you EVER do that to a child. Well we had a few reasons. But the main reason was we really wanted to celebration to be for Jesus' birth and not the shopping frenzy it has become. (And yes we know Jesus was not born in December!) Eliminating all the "other stuff" from Christmas allows it to be more focused.
Now this really isn't part of the reason but it is humorous.....I was devastated by Christmas. I can still remember the deep angst when I learned Santa was a lie. I remember thinking how could the entire world lie to small children. Ha! You would have to know I was a little adult walking around and never had much child wonderment. I was analytical and focused on understanding the why in EVERYTHING! Bless my parents hearts!
So back to the fiscal fast for this year. We wanted to kids to be able to have the opportunity to give up something for others. So instead of gifts for themselves we will use the money to purchase gifts/items for charity. We plan to give the kids the money and go shopping. I am still researching several different charity options. I wanted to find something that the kids could witness first hand and see the impact.
We made this decision last Christmas and have spent all year talking about the fiscal fast with the kids. Their excitement is waning as we approach the holidays. As the Christmas ads have started and the stores have the newest, greatest toys on display I can see the excitement to give to others taking a backseat to their own wishes and desires. We are not backing down so I am praying that these feelings will open up many opportunities to discuss what it truly means to give, serve, and be joyful in all circumstances.
We will not win Kids Choice Aware for Best Parents this year. Many will think it is just another whackadoodle idea from that weird Morris family. But my prayer is that this experience will bring the act of living for Christ to life for my kids!
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 16:25
This is just one more thing we are learning Growing Up on Dublin Lane.
As I mentioned before we are praying and believing God will provide for a family mission trip in 2015. If you feel led to help support our mission, please visit http://www.givingbean.com/store/home.php?partner=3a5d0
As I mentioned before we are praying and believing God will provide for a family mission trip in 2015. If you feel led to help support our mission, please visit http://www.givingbean.com/store/home.php?partner=3a5d0
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