What's Important This Christmas

8:38 AM...Noble's been asleep for 38 minutes.  I've showered and dressed, put a load of laundry in, and heated the tea I started making an hour ago.  Now I'm going to sit down--actually SIT--for a few minutes and drink my tea instead of letting it get cold on the counter like every other day.  

There's something that's been on our (James' & my) minds for a while, and there's just no great way to say it that won't sound tacky.  But here it is:  please, please don't buy us a Christmas gift this year...chances are pretty good, we won't be buying one for you.  For years we've been trying to downsize our holiday spending frenzy, but every year, I get so INTO the shopping and wrapping and finding the perfect thing for everyone we know...well, it's just gotten out of hand in previous years.  This past year, we didn't distribute our last two Christmas gifts until AUGUST, which is just ridiculous, and I'm quite sure the receivers thought so, as well.  

For the past 6 years--it started before we even know she was a she, back in 2002--we've just gone overboard with Kayci's Christmas.  Even Santa has gotten in on the act, bringing the special items she's asked for and more.  So while Christmas morning in our house has been a lot of fun, and we love to see our grateful girl open gifts, the fact remains that 3 hours after we start, we're left with a pile of STUFF that she doesn't need...much of which she didn't want as much as we wanted her to have it, if that makes sense.  Then multiply that by 4 different sets of grandparents who spoil her, as well, and yes, you aunts & uncles & friends & Godparents out there who do the same...it turns into a month-long celebration of getting stuff.  And I hate to break it to all of us, but Kayci doesn't play with most of the things she gets after the first day or so...she spends more time in the office with paper and markers and glue and stickers than she does in her room, which is any other little girl's dream.  

The fact is, if we want something or need something, we go out and get it.  It's not like when we were kids, and Christmas was the BIG GET...you know, when we got the toys we'd been eyeing for the past year, and the special clothes items that Mom & Dad just couldn't justify for school clothes shopping.  None of the four of us NEED anything, and truthfully, we have very few wants.  Kayci, of course, has a few special things she'd like this year, but we've been talking to her for quite a while about how we HAVE so much, we don't need to GET as much for Christmas as we have in the past.  Does she understand?  Probably not.  Will she be disappointed Christmas morning?  Probably.  But I know kids who get a lot more than she does who are still disappointed on Christmas morning, so that can't really be a factor.  The thing is, we all (the Pharaons, at least) need to appreciate what we have a bit more.  A lot more, actually.  

It's one thing to say we're going to change our focus, and another thing to do it.  God stepped in this year and made it a lot easier for us to focus on what's important this Christmas--the people in our lives.  To that end, we'll say it again:  please don't buy us a gift this year.  Instead, let's make time--not in December, crazy--to get together for dinner, or even to go see a movie.  We're always saying to our friends, we need to get together...well, let's do it.  Easier said than done, I know...so let's say we'll do it sometime in 2009 and leave it at that.  :)