Give the gift that comes from the heart

The year was 1989 and it was Christmas. My husband and I had very little money and five children expecting to wake up on Christmas morning to see what Santa left under the tree. After some creative shopping, we managed to get a few things for everyone. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a way to buy anything for each other. It was that year we started the tradition of our Christmas Letters.

We both wrote a love letter to each other and then decorated the envelope with ribbons and drawings of Christmas scenes. On Christmas Eve, we each placed our letter on the tree. The next morning, the kids opened their gifts and when they were off playing with new toys, it was our turn.

We curled up on the couch together with a steaming cup of coffee and our Christmas letters. Opening the envelope with care, we read silently the words of love, appreciation, and memories of what the year had brought. Each of us concluded with a prayer for each other and the coming year.

It has been twenty years now and the children no longer anticipate gifts from Santa, having long ago realized it was just part of the magic of childhood. However, my husband and I never lost the magic of giving our Christmas Letters. Ever since that Christmas twenty years ago, we never broke the tradition. The only gift we give is the gift of words from our heart.

Now when Christmas is over, I take our letters and place them in a very special box that we bring out once a year. We have accumulated twenty years of memories…memories of love, mentions of milestones, significant happenings that took place in the world…and events in our own small corner of it. We have collected twenty years of prayers and appreciations for lives together along with recollections of joys and sorrows as each year always brought a little of each.

We both agree we wouldn’t trade our Christmas letters for all the fancy, shiny expensive things money can buy. The present we give each other each December is our most treasured possession- we give each other the gift of love.

Love- the true meaning of Christmas

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16

Are you having a gathering this year and money is tight? Here is a great way to deal with it.