Caleb's Christmas

  Christmas is only 14 short days away!  And the days are getting shorter and shorter!  (Well, not really.  They're still the same length.  But they feel shorter, and the sun isn't up for as long.  So there.)

  Rachel and I have talked quite a bit about Caleb and Christmas.  Christmas, you may have noticed, has become a bit secularized over the years.  Some might even say that the real meaning of Christmas has become lost under and avalanche of wrapping paper and ribbons and advertising.  So how do we, as a family trying to focus on Christ, navigate these waters?

  Tough question.

  I'm not going to pretend we've come up with the perfect answer.  I'm aware that my idealism and reality will probably not match up well.  But Rachel & I feel the need to set big expectations.

  We want Christmas to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  We want this to be a joyful time in which we give thanks for the tremendous blessing of a Savior.  Rachel and I both come from families that gave gifts freely and generously to celebrate this occasion, and we have no intention of not giving any gifts to Caleb (or any other future children) as a stark reaction to a secular Christmas.

  But we're also very aware that Caleb has a lot of stuff.  He has a lot of toys and clothes and other things.  He doesn't have a lot of material needs.  Rachel and I are very blessed and able to meet most of his needs, except for the ones that he cries out for so desperately at 3 A.M., but we can't meet those because we can't figure out what they are.

  So we were thinking about how we might encourage people who want to give gifts to Caleb to consider giving a gift to World Vision in his name.  In this way, we can celebrate the gift of Caleb and give thanks for God's tremendous love, expressing that by reaching out to others in need, just as God reaches out and gives us a Savior to meet our need.  To make this easier, we have set up a World Vision My Gift Catalog Page, found here:  Caleb's Gift Catalog Page

  Now, I know that people want to buy Caleb gifts.  And that's fine.  Gifts aren't bad.  We will probably get him a gift.  We know that family and friends will get him gifts, and I think that's great.  May this be a season of joyous expectation and expressions of love!

  We hope that we can make his birthday the primary occasion for gift-giving, letting Christmas be a time when we focus on giving to others, but I'm not going to be legalistic.  Having children requires a certain degree of flexibility, and Rachel and I are going to try and do the best job we can.  We just want to manage Caleb's expectations, and try to help him see that it's not about us, but it's about our taking part in a bigger story.

  I don't pretend that this is perfect.  I also don't know what the future holds and how this will work as he grows up.  Maybe it's not going to work when he's 5 or 8 or 14.

  But it will work now.  And hopefully, it will help him see Christmas as a celebration of generous love that is made manifest in Jesus Christ, a love that should inspire us to reach out and help where and how we can.


Here's that link again:  Caleb's Gift Catalog Page