A Christmas Like No Other

I know Christmas is over, but I wanted to share something I learned this Christmas. As I grow older, and stronger in my faith, the things that are important are more easily discerned from the silly things.

This Christmas was a very different Christmas for me, and a lot of it has to do with how much more humble a lot of it felt. For those searching for the financial meaning in this article, it can be found in the understanding that the things that made this Christmas special were not financial gifts, but heartfelt gifts. This means that large sums of money don’t need to be spent to make a Christmas, or any holiday for that matter, truly special.

What Was Different?

This year, we made the conscious decision not to lavish everyone in gifts of high financial “value.” Rather than purchasing items that could be considered superficial, and obsolete in 5 years, we decided to primarily make gifts that would not only meet our loved ones’ needs, but also last for years, if not a lifetime.

While financially, this was the less expensive route (a few exceptions apply), this most certainly was not the “easy route.” What we saved in money, we spent in time many times over, and this probably has a lot to do with how this Christmas felt.

In addition to making our gifts, we spent a lot more time with our Church family which was a very rewarding, and meaningful experience. There is just something edifying about being in fellowship with your Church family on the day we celebrate the birth of our savior.

A Missionary Joined Us

My in-laws had a Christian missionary from Pakistan staying with them, and it was truly inspirational to hear him speak, and see the humble lifestyle of the people he ministers to. This certainly gave a different perspective on how lavish the “standard” Christmas in the United States can be.

The Reward of Making Gifts

As said earlier about homemade Christmas gifts, you get an entirely different feeling when you see the joy on someone’s face when they open a gift and realize that you spent hours crafting it especially for them.

It takes the term “personalization” to a whole new level. My wife and I learned how to crochet in the last few months, and we used our new skill to make meaningful gifts for many of the people we love. Handmade gifts are unique by their very nature, and that is one of the things that I love about them. This is why I’m a bit supporter of people making money on Etsy.

The Typical Christmas

We’ve spent far more money on past, “Typical” Christmases, and gotten far less enjoyment out of them. While we understood the concept, it was reinforced so much more by our Christmas experience this year: Christmas means far more than getting gifts.

Next year, while I know it will be different, many of the tenets learned this year will be applied again. Christmas is too special a time to spend it worrying and being stressed out. I hope that each person reading this can discover the true joy and meaning in celebrating the birth of our savior.