the joy of giving

I love getting Christmas presents. I have a list of ideas going year-round, I could easily spend hours perusing online for the perfect items. I love know what will light up someone’s face or fill their heart. I love having a surprise and holding onto it for weeks, sometimes months! It absolutely makes Christmas one of my favorite times of the year. 

But it wasn’t until this year that I thought about how - of course - this is exactly what so much of Christmas is about. The joy of giving, from that first joy of God’s gift to the world. “It’s better to give than to receive.” Of course it is! 

I saw it in action last month when we took the kids shopping to fill their Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. They loved it. They had so much fun choosing things for someone else, someone they didn’t even know. Both of them individually told me, “This is way more fun than shopping for myself!” And we just had so much fun together - no arguing, no comparison, no jealousy (which is a common culprit around our home!).

It made me stop to think about what would make this Christmas - especially Christmas morning - more full of joy and less full of ourselves. 

An easy way to begin, I realized, was so share the gifts I’ve been storing away for everyone. Letting Lucy in on what I’m giving Zinni and Johnnie. Letting Zinni in on what I’m giving Lucy. And sure enough, they are so filled with excitement and anticipation for Christmas morning, to see the other open their gifts even more than their excitement for their own gifts. 

And, of course, encouraging them and helping them think of and buy or make gifts for their siblings and others. They love to give me ideas, often pulling me aside to whisper something new in my ear they think their sibling would love. I love it too. 

It’s making this Christmas even more special and magical, and I’m already looking ahead to next year. maybe next year, our advent countdown will be a giving countdown, filled with opportunities to give to others. 

Because I am convinced more than ever that giving my kids generosity and other-heartedness will be one of the greatest gifts I can give them.