MENTORING AT HOME
When Presents Aren’t Enough at Christmas
by Dawn Sneden
Have you experienced that “let-down” feeling after Christmas morning? Do your kids seem restless and is the excitement already beginning to fade? It may be because presents just are not enough at Christmas. Let me explain.
Being a mother in America can be a high-pressure situation at Christmas. I’m guessing your “to-do” list for December looks something like this:
Communicate with family to decide on party dates
Figure out who is bringing what to the party
Determine who gets who a gift
Gather all the family lists of wants
Browse through the sale flyers, looking for the best deals
Figure out what you are getting the teachers this year
Unpack the Christmas decorations
Put up the Christmas decorations
Assemble a fake tree or purchase a real one; buy more lights; decorate it
Browse through your pantry to begin making your holiday grocery lists
Shop for your gifts
Decide what charity to support and purchase Angel Tree gifts
Wrap presents; Hide presents
Go to Christmas concerts/recitals
Bake
Cook
Clean
Buy a new Christmas outfit
A million other things
After all that work, we hope our kids love their gifts and the happy, mellow feeling on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day lasts. But it doesn’t. All the fun and gift-giving didn’t really satisfy. If you are like me and a thousand other mothers, among all of our list-making activities we sometimes forget to concentrate on the one true Gift that started Christmas – the birth of Jesus Christ! Without celebrating Him during the Christmas season, we are not truly satisfied. Nothing can bring greater joy than these presents: seeing someone reach out to Jesus for the first time; or knowing that the anonymous gift you left on someone’s front door will bless them more than the “gotta have” toy you bought your child; or really listening to the story of Christmas and understanding the humble beginnings of Jesus; or worshipping Him with other believers at a candlelight service.
This year, if you sense that the presents are not going to be enough, stop what you are doing, gaze at the nativity scene, and remember the one true Gift from God – our Savior and Lord, Jesus. Then be ready to help your children experience the “presents” that satisfy.
