The Reason

One of our first Christmas tree in our first house. 

Christmas time is a very magical time of year! There are so many things to look forward to when you are a child and also as you grow up and have kids of your own. I love seeing their eyes light up with all the wonder and magic of the Christmas season. The lights on the tree, pulling the ornaments they have made out of the box, reading their favorite Christmas stories, watching their favorite Christmas movies, making gingerbread houses the list goes on and on.  I still remember the things that were especially wonderful from my childhood and so does Jared and we try to incorporate them into our traditions with our own kids. 

We had moved up to two kids to buy presents for.

Three Kids and a new house... Take my advice- don't buy your kids a drum set.

As the mom, I feel like I should run the show when it comes to Christmas. I am the one who is home with the kids, I know what they would like, I like shopping, I decorate, I bake, I invite, I plan. But this does not mean I run the show on Christmas morning.  For Jared it's all about the magic. He wants his kids to wake up and be awed by the amount of gifts that are under a sparkling tree. There has to be no less than a huge gigantic gift, a large gift and lots of small to medium sized gifts for each child arranged just so under the tree. The more the merrier he seems to think. That was how it was done in Jared's childhood and it made such an impact on him that he tries to recreate this joy of Christmas for his children every year. I love that about him! But he doesn't do this just for the kids, either! He makes sure Christmas is just as magical for me too. He always has a big surprise for me, something I have been wanting for a long time but it's just to expensive for me to justify getting for myself. Some of these gifts were- a new camera, a bike with a bike trailer, a treadmill, a laptop, a deluxe double waffle iron, another new camera... I can't remember them all but he is a good husband and makes Christmas special for me!

Four kids...

Well, as the years have gone on we have added more kids and a bigger mortgage to the bills. Christmas has been scaled down a couple times so that now we have a more realistic amount of presents under the tree. We still joke about the Christmas that we had opened all the presents and the kids were playing happily. I had opened a few small gifts from Jared but I just knew he was hiding my big gift out in the garage and was going to bring it in and surprise me at any moment, but he never did. Finally, I had to ask, "Where is my surprise?" He looked at me sheepishly "I didn't get you one this year, I stuck to our budget."  "You say that every year and you still always surprise me!" I didn't believe that there was really no surprise until I actually checked all his hiding spots, because I had been tricked before. And that was the year we started sticking to a budget.

Our tree this year. Yes, we know its crooked.

We have really good kids that appreciate gifts of any kind or any amount and I am sure they have no idea that Christmas is any different from one year to the next. I have seen this downsizing of gifts as a blessing because we have been able to focus more on what Christmas is really about. Its not about the presents or the stress that comes with trying to get every item on everyone's Christmas list. It's about the spirit of giving, of kindness, of charity, of love. The Christ-like love for all. Because He is the reason for it all! The decorations, the lights, the gifts, the goodies- all of it, down to the smallest gift under the tree. It's all because He lived! He was born! He is our Savior! And He lives still now, and we celebrate Him in this Christmas season. 

 Because Jesus is the Reason for the Season.