It’s that time of year again…

Time to buy Christmas presents for others and create our Christmas lists.  Time to check out the holiday sales and shop ’til we drop.  Time to snatch up the best deals of the season on the perfect gifts for others (and maybe even ourselves).

But wait.  Is that what Christmas is all about?

Because of living in Taiwan, my holiday shopping is somewhat limited to online purchases. No pre-dawn lines that wrap around the store for me!  This year, I found it interesting though that the typical one-day, doorbuster, holiday sales lasted for, not one day, but a week each online.  Amazon (my online retailer of choice) advertised Black Friday Deals Week, Cyber Monday Deals Week, and now (I just checked) the aptly titled “Holiday Flurry Deals Week” is going on.  I wonder what next week’s AMAZING deals will be titled.  :)

Like many people, I got caught up in the craze of Christmas shopping and sales over the last couple of weeks.  This was compounded by the fact that my wonderful parents are coming to visit me and my sisters in Taiwan for Christmas–they’ll be here in just 12 days!!–so this was our chance to have them special deliver much-sought-after-and-not-found-in-Taiwan items.  It wasn’t all bad; I was able to find some great deals on gifts for my family and friends.  I even did pretty well at not going overboard on my purchases.  Yet it was my mindset that was polluted by consumerism.  I found myself gazing longingly at pictures of iPads and digital cameras and wondering just how much my budget could be stretched to purchase that on-sale season of Psych or Michael Bublé’s smooth new Christmas album.

In the midst of this greediness of my heart, our school launched its Christmas offering project, and I was reminded about the true meaning of Christmas:  giving.  After all, Christmas is when we remember the greatest gift ever given, the gift of God’s Son to mankind.  Isn’t it appropriate that we take time to focus on sacrificial giving at Christmas time?  What are you prepared to give to others this Christmas season? Continue reading “‘Tis the Season to be Giving”