"Some of the enjoyment of Christmas is gone for me, " one of my sons admitted to me last night. "Sorry," I said. He said that because he really does miss the gifts. No doubt! His comment saddened me, of course, but at the same time, I was ok with his honesty. He knows it isn't forever and he knows there really are gifts that come to him all year, but the piles of piles of gifts are gone and quite honestly, I'm not sure we'll ever go back to what we were doing before even if we came into money.
This same boy savours every element of Christmas even more now. He loves the decorations, the cookie decorating, all the traditions. I took one of the traditions away, but it just has made him appreciate all the other ones so much the more.
One other funny tradition we added this year was reading a completely different "Advent" book. It was the Barry Cameron book we just finished on money. It was actually the perfect Advent book to read! In so many ways it was confirming for us why we need to be so careful with our money and change our habits that normally got out of control for us at Christmas. There's nothing wrong with the other Advent books, but in the past, our kids listened to them, but really....it was still about the gifts....and a little about baby Jesus....For the second year in a row, we are TRULY able to focus on what Christmas is about.
Giving above and beyond the tithe was a challenge for us this year. This is the time of year most people are asked to give to all sorts of different places, from the Salvation Army in the mall to someone at the door or even over the phone. Isn't the tithe enough????? We figured God would lay it on our hearts if we were supposed to give above that. Then an opportunity was put before us. The spiritual struggle was undeniable as we both saw it from two completely different perspectives. We wrestled with what to do. I was right, of course!
After a full day of going back and forth, discussing it from all angles, we both finally agreed what to give, where to give it and how much. One of the financial principles in the Bible is "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38) We decided to give, even though we knew this verse, not expecting anything in return.
Within hours of making the donation, RM got a call from the guy who rents our land asking if he could come by and pay us. Of course that is money that is owed to us, but we never know when we'll hear from him. It appears completely coincidental, but evenso, it felt like an odd confirmation from God, that our finances are His ultimately and that He'll take care of us especially if we gave sacrificially.
Another funny thing that happened even this morning....As of today we were going to be drinking the so-so coffee. My husband saved two of the "great" coffee disks and told me I could have them, just to be nice. This morning I came down and couldn't find them anywhere. I searched high and low and basically took the whole coffee/tea cupboard apart looking for them. This was at 5:30 in the morning. I didn't want to go upstairs and wake him up, but I was thinking about it! Suddenly, I saw one, then the second! Whew! I thought that was odd of him to throw them at the back of the cupboard and make me do a whole search and rescue mission for them, but oh well.
Then, suddenly, he appears! He's never up that early, but said he was done sleeping. I said, "I finally found the coffee! Why did you hide them?" "I didn't! I put them here in this mug!" Ahhhhhhh....there they were! I looked at him and said, "Hey!" Then I tried to quote the verse about "with what measure you use, it will be measured to you...." and I said, "That is soooo cool! You gave me the last two disks, just to be nice and then there ended up being two for you!!!!" I think he thought I was reading too much into it, but I don't think so!
Isn't that how God works? RM sacrificed, perhaps in a very small way, but it was big to me - remember we love our morning coffee....and he had given me the last two disks for our little machine that makes AWESOME coffee. God gave them right back to him. Now, we're definitely out, but it was kind of nice to share a cup this morning together where we both had a cup of the good stuff! I don't think God works in only big ways. I think He wants us to see Him even in how He blesses us in the little things. I also think it was another picture of how if we gave sacrificially above and beyond the tithe, that God will also bless that. He showed us with the unexpected payment from the farmer and even with the coffee. We may be out of the coffee we love, but amazingly, in our boatload of groceries, whoever gave even donated coffee - how did they know? So I don't even need to buy any for a long time.
Today is going to be a fun day for the kids. We were unexpectedly invited over to a friend's house to decorate cookies. But not just any cookies...cookies that are to be given away. I love that. The plan is to make them in order to give them to neighbours. This one friend has even invited us to stay for dinner. I had to double check if she was serious. "Are you sure you want the whole family? You know we have 10 people in our family?!" She knew and still invited us! Not many people do that for us - only the brave! She admitted that in the past she would have waited to be hospitable, but no more! She was determined to not wait! What's interesting is how we haven't even been there yet, but how I've already found myself feeling blessed - blessed to be invited, honoured to be thought of, thrilled to have something to look forward to that will be fun for the kids (and doesn't cost too much!) - and all this without even being there yet! It tells me how hospitality is soooo important! Being on the receiving end is such a blessing and makes me want to be even more hospitable. So thanks, dear friend, for inviting us!!!!!
RM's day is not going to be as fun, however! Our van, which was virtually free, started to give us trouble last week. This is really the first big fix since we got it, so that's not too bad considering how long we've had it. The brakes gave out, but fortunately, RM has done his share of fixing brakes, so he knew what to do. Also, the brakes gave out, but it didn't happen when I was driving and when it did happen, RM knew what to do and made it home safely. It was a ton of hard work to fix and is almost all done, but has been very challenging physically and was another cost we didn't expect. We're not too worried about the cost, though, as God always provides - we're seeing that time and time again. The rest of the parts will come today and then it'll be put back together. The boys have watched the whole process and now say they would know what to do, so it's not all bad when these things happen as we want our boys to be mechanically adept. They won't be helpless men, they are learning so much!
Well, the four year old is up - he's begging for breakfast, so I guess I should make it!
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