Our First (Real) Christmas

This is a letter written by my wife about our Christmas this year. Maybe we've finally found the real meaning of Christmas.

Dear Friends:

Several weeks ago we were challenged at church to look at Christmas differently this year. We were ready. God had already prepared our hearts. We just did not know what that would mean.

We had already been introduced to the book Radical before it was mentioned in church. We were ready for the messages that followed. The truth is we have always had a bent towards the radical, not always in a good way either.

We knew that we needed to think about giving to some needy causes. We knew there are many people out there less fortunate than us, but where are they. Who are the ones we should give to? We had a few ideas but not any real inspiration.

Darin had been reading the book Revolution in World Missions and was introduced to the ministry Gospel for Asia. He started investigating. GFA is a wonderful ministry that seeks to meet the basic needs of some of the most impoverished people in the world. Feeding these people or giving them the means to feed and provide for themselves has made them receptive to a God that loves them. Ministers of their own culture are trained to share the Gospel and make disciples, sending these young disciples into more of the same areas of poverty and need, to continue the cycle of multiplying God’s church. We decided that this was something we wanted to support.

Because of wisdom learned through FPU last year we were facing the Christmas season with a fully loaded Christmas budget. We knew exactly how much we needed to buy all the gifts that we typically buy each year. Every dollar was planned.

Guess what? God had other plans. I pictured these people that send their children out to dig through trash and to beg in the streets just to eat. I pictured myself standing before God, and them, and explaining that I really needed to spend $1200 dollars on Christmas presents, knowing that half the world lives on less than two dollars a day (“Break our hearts for what breaks yours”).

The idea actually shames me. We are filthy rich. Why is it that we don’t know it? Probably because we are always looking at what we still don’t have. We knew we weren’t going to spend this money the way we had planned. Instead we were going to spend as little as possible and give the rest away.

We decided to sit down and share our hearts with our children. We showed them some videos of the needs in Asia. They too were moved to do something. We told our boys what we expected to spend on each them for Christmas. We showed them the different ways that we could support this ministry. We could adopt a missionary or a child. We could also purchase gifts from the GFA Christmas Catalog (http://www.gfa.org) for poor Indian families, gifts that are meant to break the cycle of poverty.

You can buy farm animals, tools like weaving looms and sewing machines or water filters, wells and so much more. We decided to start by sponsoring a child and a missionary. The boys shopped and committed a portion of their Christmas money to buy a bicycle for a missionary, a pair of rabbits, some chickens and a water filter. Darin and I will be shopping tomorrow and we will spend the rest of the money that we have saved by scaling back our spending. Every dollar saved is one we can spend for these people and every dollar counts. Another bicycle or two and maybe some goats!

It all makes sense now. How did I ever miss it? Jesus has a Christmas list!

Why has it taken me 45 years to realize that the most important gifts under the tree are the ones for Jesus? The wise men knew. We are thinking about putting a box under the tree that we will fill with representations of our gifts for Jesus and unwrapping it as we talk about the true meaning of Christmas. Hokey? Maybe? But I’m SO in!

Giving Christmas away this year makes me feel like the Grinch, standing on the mountain over Whoville, sleigh over head, with a heart that has grown 5 sizes bigger and busting out. I have never enjoyed Christmas shopping so much! I plan to from now on. Next year we’re buying a camel, maybe two!

Merry Christmas,
Mary Kay Harris

Let us know if you have had a similar experience. Who knows maybe we can really change the world.