Christmas cheer or get run over by a reindeer? I guess that would all depend on your perspective.

Black Friday kicked off the holiday season and the season of giving. Actually from reading the news it was the season to get trampled and ran over by stampedes of people rather than reindeer’s.

I love Christmas and I love getting that special gift for that special person. For me when I get a gift, it isn’t about what I spend, instead it is the joy they receive from said gift. I must not be a serious gift giver though because I refused to trample someone to find that ultimate awesome gift that is bigger and better than anyone else could give. I don’t think it is worth getting hurt over to save a few bucks. And if someone is so shallow that I couldn’t get them the perfect gift that has a huge price tag, then so be it!

According to the Daily News, “Some bargain hunters around the country appeared to turn violent leading to incidents including a stabbing in Virginia, shooting in Chicago and possible Taser attack caught on video in Philadelphia.”

Really people! Is that certain item worth it? I would hope not, but that is my irrational thinking I think. Actually this year we are doing Christmas a bit different. So I will be able to get after Christmas sales. We are doing Christmas at Easter. We will be celebrating the Birth, Crucifixion and the Resurrection all at the same time. Since Christ wasn’t born on December 25th, I don’t think it will matter.

Now, the way I feel about Christmas gifts is that if someone wants to give a gift than fine, if not, it isn’t a biggie. Many times people feel like they have to be guilt-ed into buying for someone they really don’t want to or have no particular use for. I have a few of those on my list. I don’t feel that people should feel like they HAVE to buy a gift just because it is a holiday and everyone else is. That isn’t what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about Christ and Christ alone.

What really bothers me the most about Christmas though and I didn’t really think much of it till my daughters got married and I worked in a grocery store is that people will skip paying bills and go hungry to get a gift for someone. I may be wrong about this, but not thinking so. But I would think that putting food on the table and a roof over your head is much more important than buying a gift for someone who may or may not appreciate it. Plus I don’t think that Christ would want us to do that either.

Since Christmas is suppose to be about Christ, why not do something that He would do. Why not help someone out or pay for a meal. Maybe the person before or behind you in line has barely enough to buy a gallon of milk. What a difference it would make to the person who had to scrape up change to feed their baby. These are things that are more like what Christ would want us to do on HIS day.

Holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but for many people they are anything but many times they are filled with stress and anxiety. Many experience loneliness and feeling unfulfilled.

What gets me too is that people will resort to almost anything during the holidays. I have seen some pretty strange things. Let me see! How about how people give coins at the registers to help kids that won’t have a Christmas and someone comes by and steals the money. They must have more important things to do I guess. How about the person who robs the Salvation Army buckets? Then you have those who write bad checks, card fraud and stealing from the blind and poor. Shoot some many not just steal the money, but the rip of merchandise just so they can give that special gift.

I know I may be sounding a bit like the Grinch. But I think we have gotten so far away from what Christmas is and Who it is about. I guess I have images of Little House on the Prairie when Laura and Mary had very little and Pa couldn’t afford much. But on the Christmas morning the joy in the faces of the children when the got fruit and nuts in the stocking was pure excitement. Mary made a homemade shirt for Pa and he was overjoyed. What ever happened to those kinds of Christmas’s? The kind where it wasn’t about how much a gift was or how much bigger one gift was over the other. Click here for video

In my way of thinking, I guess Christmas has gotten too far from what it should be. It is overly commercialized and Christ is far removed. When I hear people that celebrate Christmas and they say it is all about family, I get upset. Because while families are awesome because we all have families and we all want them happy and joyful. But Christmas quite simply put is about Christ.

I have no problem when gifts are given, but give within your means. And if you have to go without food and rent, then think of something else. Giving of time is an awesome gift to so many. We have lost the gift of just visiting and talking to our friends and neighbors.

There are countless ways to make a difference in someone else’s life during the Christmas season. While looking online about ways to make Christmas more about Christ, I came across this from a father.

If we make Christmas all about our children and give them everything on their Christmas lists, then they are going to believe Christmas IS all about them. 

• They will expect more and more every year.
• They will never be happy with what they have.
• They will never understand that they are not the center of the universe.
• And they will always be discontent, selfish, and egotistical.

But, most importantly, our children will never know Jesus. 

So, in an effort to keep Christ at the center of this Christmas Season, i listed a few things you can do to keep focused on the true meaning.

• Adopt a family by providing a Christmas Dinner and a few gifts.
• Volunteer at your local shelter or food bank- This can be an all year round thing also
• Visit a neighbor who may be living alone
• Bake cookies for your neighbors
• Visit a nursing home- There are many who spend day after day alone with nobody to talk to.
• Forgive someone who done you wrong (Maybe you need to ask to be forgiven too)
• Pray for those in need
• Send a card to someone that is in the military. They would love to hear from someone and know someone cares about them.
• If you have the money, pay for the person in front of your line at the store or restaurant. If you are first in line, pay for the one behind you.