For many people, Christmas is their favorite time of year. It pleases all five of the senses - the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and many new things to hold and touch.
But when the main focus for the season is the "many new things to hold and touch", Christmas joy can be replaced by sadness and depression and anxiety when funds are limited or even non-existent for exchanging gifts. The gift-giving ritual of Christmas has become paramount. The other enjoyments of the holiday season seem to be secondary.
It has been said that when one of the senses is lost, others heighten and make up for the loss. For instance, a blind person has increased ability to rely on hearing and touch more so than those of us with eyesight. I believe that for those of us with limited ability to purchase gifts during the Christmas season, we have been given an immeasurable gift - the ability to increase our senses of sight, sound, taste, and smell. And with this gift can come abundant joy as expectations lessen, hustle and bustle slows down, trips to the mall (for just one more thing) cease, and the peace of the real reason for the season begins to envelop and calm us.
For me, I look forward to putting on some Christmas music, watching the lights twinkle on our (free) Christmas tree, enjoying the decorations throughout the house that Rachel loves to put up every year, driving through the park to see the Christmas lights, taking pictures to post on Facebook (lol), hearing Ryan play Christmas music on his guitar and listening to Rachel as she learns to do the same, smelling and drinking up some Christmas wassail, and baking up as many goodies as the budget will allow this year.
I do enjoy gifts and, when monetary constraints lessen one of these years, you can be sure there will be more of them under our tree. But for now, my choices (sometimes difficult ones) are JOY in the midst of struggle, PEACE in the midst of turmoil, and an awareness of JESUS in the midst of it all, choosing my sense of touch to be satisfied by hugging and holding onto my family and friends.
If these things sound difficult to you, please know that you are not alone. They are difficult. Yet I pray that you are able to find JOY, with ALL of your senses, during this Christmas season.