We have a song on our computer, called, fittingly, “No cash for Christmas.”
My favorite lines: “My wife and I, count all of our joys. All of our kids are good girls and boys. Should I pay rent, or should I buy toys? Because I got no cash for Christmas!”
I laugh, because we didn’t choose. Neither was possible. Our total holiday outlay is certainly under $20. This may sound like a sob story, but it’s not. It’s perfection.
In the midst of a lean time, we are discovering the our Daddy, the Most High God, Creator of the Universe, owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And because He provides for us, we practice some major ingenuity, and we have some great friends with hand-me-downs, our children are currently happily playing with their Christmas gifts.
And they are all good girls and boys, a blessing to us, and to the world.
One thing we did differently this year: we parents didn’t give gifts to individual children. Instead, we gave gifts that would bless us as a family. A box of duplos from a friend who buys from thrift stores and resells on Ebay. A box of OCC Kinex from the same. An encyclopedic guide to the battles of the Bible that I picked up at Costco a month or two ago. 5 batches of brightly colored, homemade playdough. And finally, my greatest triumph: A kickboxing bag, sewn from a piece of fluorescent orange canvas I picked up on Freecycle 2 years ago. Stuffed with sleeping bags, it serves a dual-purpose as toy and storage space. All to be shared, a blessing to our family. (Especially the punching bag, which will hang in my basement and be available to little boys who are feeling a little “aggressive” with cabin fever the next 2 months.)
My 5yo daughter summed things up beautifully a few minutes ago. “This Christmas is even better than last year!” Praise be to God. Yes, it is.
Soon, our lean time will come to an end. I won’t be sad to see it go, but I will remember it with great affection. God has blessed us this day.
I need to go. I’m about to make a rich, beautiful chocolate torte to take to Christmas dinner at my In-Laws’. Out of beans. When you can do that, who needs cash for Christmas?
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