My Favorite Christmas Gifts

This month has been amazing. Being at seminary and living on a graduate student’s budget forced me to rethink Christmas – for the better.

We began by prepping the children for a different kind of Christmas than they were used to or might be expecting. The more I thought about Christmas and all that’s wrapped up in our usual celebration of it, the more I felt like this was the right thing to do, whether or not we were at seminary.

Our pastors had challenged us to take the focus off of creating a “perfect Christmas” and put it back where it belongs – on Christ and his people in need. They called for us to fight for Christmas.

I can’t speak for the children, but this may have been one of the best Christmases ever! And even though we downplayed the gifts, we were humbly surprised by the generosity of others to our family.

The kids after opening surprise gifts from a local church and school

Highlights of this Christmas for me were:

• An advent seek-n-find devotional that we found at the re-sell shop on campus
• Singing “Happy Birthday, cha-cha-cha” to Jesus with our seminary friends
• Making (not eating!) cinnamon ornaments with the boys
• Enjoying amazing Christmas programs with my family and friends
• A children’s Christmas Corner event sponsored by the seminary women’s association
• Attending the holiday sing-a-long at the kids’ school
• Seeing dear friends – if only to pick up Christmas gifts sent in the wrong direction!
• Free babysitting and dinner theatre – a gift from my parents
• Family!
• Eating kimchee and playing monopoly with friends
• And a personal favorite, which I hope to enjoy again very soon – Sitting on my friend’s *brand-new* heated toilet seat (the best Christmas gift EVER)