Preparation

It looks like the bulk of harvest is nearly over.  In fact, it could be done at the end of this week, or maybe early next week.  We’ll see.  It’ll be nice to have Knut home around 7 or 8 at night instead of 11 or midnight.  I’ve gotten a lot of knitting done when I finally get to sit on the couch when the kids get to sleep.  I’m so behind on so many other things.  Oddly, I’m not bothered by that.  I feel like each day I accomplish what needs to get done, and try to be content with that, even if what was achieved wasn’t perfection.  Rest is good too.

Most especially,  I don’t want to miss this.

We’ve moved into a season of thankfulness.  I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Christmas this year, as it will be different.  This is our year to go down to Arizona with my parents, but after our terrible, awful, no good road trip down their last Spring with 2 kids who were unbelievably carsick no matter what we tried, I told my parents we just couldn’t go.  Thankfully, they were understanding and decided to come to us this year.

So this will be brand new.  What do I want Christmas at our house to look like?  Toy catalogs have started trickling in the mail, and after the kids devoured the first 2 and could talk of nothing else, I finally started throwing them away. It’s so hard even for me…especially the ones from homeschool companies with super-educational, brain stimulating toys that my kids would play with for hours.  I could so easily go nuts in there.

I’ve been asking myself a lot lately: at what point do we say enough?  At what point do we say “We don’t need anymore stuff.”  What are we teaching our kids about money and priorities and love and the poor during this season of celebration?  Because money and the poor and children and putting people first were all pretty important to Jesus.  At what point do we consider what sort of life God has called us to live?  And most of all, is there any way to make Christmas about Christ’s birth, and not about stuff?  Not so the kids have the legalistic righteousness, or deprived attitude, but so they really get it.  Really, really understand what this is all about.  Can we not just breathe Jesus into the season?

We know Jesus is enough for us adults, but assume he’s not enough for the kids.  For kids it’s all about the presents because they can’t understand that other stuff.  I’m starting to believe that is a lie.  Jesus is enough, most especially for kids, because kids get it.  If anyone understands faith or compassion or God, it’s kids.  Jesus said so himself.

We started a grateful list.  Akin to the “1000 gifts” book, which prompted a lot of growth in me, we’re removing toy catalogs and commercials from our house, and focusing on being thankful for what we DO have.  Whenever any of the kids get whiney during the day for various reason, I have them add things to the list.  “But Mo-om!  I don’t wanna… I want to…”  I say, “OK, why don’t I have you add 5 things to our list.”  They instantly light up and run to the roll of parchment paper hanging from a length of yarn on the nail that usually holds our advent calendar in December.  They love thinking of something to add to the list.

It’s a huge distraction, and a reprogramming right in the moment for all of us.  The kids are coming up to me multiple times a day to add things to the list.  We are being kinder to each other.

Then whenever one starts naming things off for me to write, more kids come running from other rooms to add things to the list.  Our paper is unrolling.  Our hearts are starting to shift.

I’m trying to prepare the older kids for the shift I hope for Christmas this year.  Let’s focus on giving.  Let’s come up with some giving lists, instead of getting lists.  Let’s look for ways to bless our neighbors.  Let’s find “the least of these” that Jesus talks about and give to them what we would give to baby Jesus.

What better way to start off the season than with a season of thanks?