I have a bit of a love / hate relationship with Christmas. On the one hand, it's a season of joy, peace, hope, love, etc., regardless of your religious affiliation. I think it's safe to say most people in Canada, even those who recently immigrated here, get a sense that there is something a little different about Christmas, or at least that traditionally, there should be.
I heard a radio ad for a Salvation Army toy drive try to make the point that it is just as hard on teens as it is on children aged 5 - 12 to not have toys under the Christmas tree. It was coupled with a very intentionally heart moving plea to donate toys to this particular organization (which I have nothing against.) What really irked me was the sentiment that not receiving a toy this time of year is troubling, and of all the things to do this Christmas, we should make sure all teenagers have at least one toy under the tree. Also, we're gonna need some trees donated.
Is it really a gift if it's demanded? Expected? And if that demand is unmet, should it be emotionally traumatizing? I'm not faulting those who grew up with this mindset and have not advanced enough in years to question it, nor am I saying not to give. I love giving. I love being gifted by those who do so because this bond means something to them. But rarely, if ever, do I approach Christmas dreaming of what I'm going to get. And this isn't a hey, look at me, I'm so awesome kinda rant. It really saddens me that we condition generation after generation to the point that someone finds it necessary to PLEAD for someone to give because Christmas won't be Christmas without gifts, specifically toys.
And I get that we're talking about those who are less fortunate, and I don't wish to come across as crass or unfeeling. Again, please give. But don't just give a toy. Don't give an object and think that that solves everything - "There, now little Timmy won't murder his high school because we gave him a Lego set." No . . . . the biggest difference is love.
I pray for creativity, chiefly for myself (that I would live up to what I feel I'm asking others to do) , so that the ways in which we express love to mankind this year (not just this TIME of year) may reflect the heart of a God who loves recklessly, gives liberally, and longs to restore all things.
On a sidenote . . .
More than anything this time of year, I want to be with my family. And it's not that I don't have wonderful people around me here . . . but I want to wake up and have breakfast with the same people I've been waking up and having Christmas breakfast with for years, to partake again in our little traditions. I don't want anything else really - I just wanna go home . . .
I'm so very thankful for my family here, for making the past two Christmases be joyous and filled with love. But I miss my Mom . . . I miss Annalies and the movies we watch together, miss Kara and inevitably doing dishes together, miss Erika and playing games at the dining room table with Byron . . . amd even Charlie and his insistence on pouncing on me (as much as a Shih Tzu can) when I walk through the door.
I'll see you all soon :)
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