The best gift you can give to yourself

Back when I was a little Janusling, Christmas used to be my favorite time of the year. I think anyone that celebrated Christmas as a kid would say it was their favorite time of the year, or at least in the top five. Christmas meant waking up to presents and tearing lots of wrapping paper and parents getting to smile to see that they picked out the right stuff.
One year I got in an argument with my brother about a week before Christmas and I remember my parents were furious with me (and my brother too.) I was terrified because I thought I was going to get a lump of coal and maybe something that Santa emptied from the Reindeer scooper that year. That morning I went out and had stocking stuffers and the packages seemed normal.
When I kept opening them I kept getting things like socks...and underwear...and windshield wiper blades. I didn't cry or grumble, like I wanted to, but I thought for a while perhaps Santa really did have it in for me and figured this would be even more punishment than coal. After all the gifts were opened and my brother and sister had a whole bunch of cool stuff they wanted, I sat there in a my pile of Socks, Underwear, and two windshield wiper blades (which is odd anyway, since eight year olds don't drive.)
Finally my dad handed me a note from Santa, that said "Open the walk-in closet."
I opened it up and it was full of wrapped presents for me, and that's when I found the things I had asked Santa for. He just decided to make me sweat a little it seems. My dad was giddy watching me open my gifts and seeing me beam with each one. It was a Christmas I would never forget.
Christmas is not all about G.I. Joe and Barbie, even though the commercials would make you think so. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, time with your family and friends, and unless you are a little kid...it's about giving. A lot of people have heard the expression "The reason of the season" but in truth many people seem to think the reason of the season has something to do with shopping.
This is a time of year when many people are depressed. It's stressful trying to buy gifts and take care of all the other bills. I found out a few years ago that the year when I got all those socks and underwear and the "real gifts" later on that we almost didn't have Christmas presents.
My dad had a bad year at his store and a new state law required him to spend 4000 dollars just so he could legally keep his gas station open that winter. My family had to dip into our personal savings as well as the Christmas Club money that my mother had saved up all year for our presents. My dad did one of the hardest things in his life, he swallowed his pride to ask for a small loan from my Grandma. My dad hated borrowing money or even using credit cards back then, and to ask for help cost him every ounce of pride he could lose. He did it though for us kids so we could have a Merry Christmas.
Christmas shouldn't be about the money, but it costs money for anything it seems. I will admit to you that I was a lucky kid growing up. My parents didn't spend hundreds or thousands on us really, but they were able to buy us gifts for Christmas. As a son and a uncle, I can tell you how stressful and depressing it is to want to give to your loved ones this time of year and not have a way to do so.
I want to tell you about the Christmas Gift Mart that my church is taking part in. I am like you, and this is probably a very tight and crunching time for money at this time of year. Well for some parents and kids out there it can be even worse. Nothing can compare to wanting to give your family a great Christmas, and hardly having a dime to your name to do so.
The Christmas Gift Mart works because people like you and me can give toys or a donation to the great volunteers that make this happen and they are able to sell the toys at a fraction of the cost to parents that want to get their children presents but don't have the resources to do so.
This allows people (Like my father once upon a time) that do not have the means to buy a lot of toys from the store, to be able to get toys for their children and still have the dignity of paying for it rather than having to take a hand out.
The money that is made from the "profits" (the small amount of money that the parents pay for the gifts we donate) will go to the two financially struggling elementary schools that these children attend.
What I like about this is that one gift becomes five different gifts.
1. You get the gift of knowing that you helped some good people able to have a merrier Christmas with their families.
2. The parent gets a gift, being able to buy presents for their kids without having to spend entire paychecks to do so.
3. The children get a gift, which you can imagine bringing hundreds of smiles out there.
4. The school gets a gift, which benefits the family, the children, and the entire community.
5. God gets a gift.
Yes, that's right you are not just giving a present to a needy family, you are giving a gift to God. These children, the families, the schools are cared about by God, and a gift given out of love is a way of honoring him. Money is not the "reason of the season", Jesus is. Your gift can bless the lives of others and bring glory to him.
So if you can and are willing, please click the link to learn more about the Christmas Gift Mart and find out how you can help. If you can't donate a gift or are a terrible shopper like me, you don't have to buy some poor kid a set of wiper blades. They have plenty of volunteers that are willing to buy some gifts for the children for you, and all the numbers to call and people to speak to if you want to help are right there and you can help by offering a gift of the universal gift certificate that we call cash.
Help out if you can, and give yourself one of the best gifts you can, by sharing with those in need.
Now if I could only get them volunteers to do my shopping too.