Santa Claus is coming to town

Let's remember the heart behind Christmas is not about going out and putting yourself in debt to give you children everything they want in life.  It isn't about that popular toy or piece of clothing. The spirit of Christmas, is fast becoming an endangered species in our culture today. We slash at it unintentionally with questions like, “What do you want for Christmas?”  Christmas is the selected date that we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the start of his path to the cross where he will ultimately die for our sins.  Jesus bought us forgiveness and gives us new life 

Christmas to me is a way of life.  Christmas symbolized God's sacrifice, love, grace and generosity for us all. It is a time to reach out to one another and be God in each other's lives.  Show love.  Be generous.  Sacrifice for those that are in need.  Give grace where needed.  I truly believe that we should live everyday of our lives this way, but of course life gets in the way and we all forget. 

Though Christmas is very commercialized now, we can still teach our children the heart of Christmas.  Santa Claus himself comes from a very humble and generous, sacrificing life.  The Legend of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) dates hundreds of year back to a monk name St. Nicholas.  He was much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married.

Of course he did not look like the jolly guy pictured above but he even this guy can teach kids about having a heart of service for one another.  If you take the time to tell your kids about the history behind him, you can still pull this holiday out of the sad commercialism that it currently lives in for many people. The true spirit of Christmas is a spirit of giving.  Having a generous heart has very little to do with the amount of money we spend on gifts or goodies or on how much we give to church and charities. 

Think about ways today where you can show generosity of spirit that has nothing to do with your pocket book.

• Give compassion today to someone who is hurting…  even if you can see they have dug their own hole.
• Give the gift of time to someone who needs to process her thoughts out loud. Look her in the eye and really hear what is being said.
• Give forgiveness remembering God has forgiven you.
• Give encouragement to someone who is frustrated or discouraged.
• Give a place at your table and share a meal.

It is never too late to start new family traditions.  Sit down as a family and figure out one GOOD thing you could do for someone in need this holiday season.  Start with one and maybe you can increase this to something you do quarterly, monthly and so on. 

Remember..Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person.