If stacking up gifts under the tree means racking up debt that will consign us to overtime labor in the coming year, it’s not worth it. Deep down, our kids don’t want to be home alone with things while we slave away at the office just to pay it all off.
Photo Credit: Free photo: House, Home, Structure – Free Image on Pixabay – 2595330
If in pursuit of making our kids happy we rob them of our presence in their lives, we’ve missed our greatest opportunity. What they need is relationship—not with a screen, a gadget, or a piece of plastic, but with the people most important in their lives.
Photo Credit: Free photo: Christmas, Star, Winter, Family – Free Image on …
‘Tis the season when kids make their lists and we check them twice, determined to please the ones we love with that perfect gift. But before we gear up for another trip to the shopping mall, let’s take the time to stop. Breathe. Put those lists down. And consider.
What is it our kids truly need?
Written between the lines of holiday wants lies something deeper. Something more costly than anything our imaginations can conjure up. Something that can’t be bought at the mall.
My friend once lamented that she got a second job so she could get her kids all they needed, only to find they needed something more. Her hours of labor provided for material things while robbing her family of precious time together. She was slowly losing her kids to technology, and eventually to gangs, drugs, and more. Looking back, her greatest regret was missing out on her kids’ lives for the sake of getting them more stuff.
As we think of the kids in our lives, most everyone would agree one of our greatest endeavors is to make them happy. It’s at this juncture that we stand to lose the very thing we venture to gain. If in pursuit of making our kids happy we rob them of our presence in their lives, we’ve missed our greatest opportunity. What they need is relationship—not with a screen, a gadget, or a piece of plastic, but with the people most important in their lives.
If stacking up gifts under the tree means racking up credit card debt that will consign us to overtime labor in the coming year, it’s not worth it. Deep down, our kids don’t want to be home alone with things while we slave away at the office just to pay it all off. More than our presents, they need our presence. They want, and need, us. IN their lives. It’s the greatest gift we can give, to them…and to ourselves.
My prayer is that I’ll live a life of gratitude, for the big things and the little things. For the annoying things. And even for the painful ones.
Photo Credit: Commons:Photo challenge/2014 – November – Leaves
When we learn the secret of gratitude, death becomes a thing of beauty. We’re able to let go, no longer needing to fill the empty spaces with the latest and greatest distraction to hit the holiday shelves. We no longer need to wait for a new year for change to come, because we can be thankful…now.
Photo Credit: starry skies – the puddle in the parking lot Flickr by joiseyshowaa
Thanksgiving comes first, putting everything into perspective if only we still our souls to listen and learn the secret.
Photo Credit: Fall Cornucopia — Rosslyn (VA) November 2012 | Image by Ron… | Flickr
When we’re going through fiery trials, it can be a challenge to maintain a heart of gratitude. Giving thanks in difficult times may be the hardest thing we’re asked to do, and yet it is the very thing that will help lift the burden of a heavy heart.
Photo Credit: File:Autumn Mist by the Lake.JPG – Wikimedia Commons
This Life & Beyond 
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