What we thought was a shortcoming ending in a great Christmas memory
We moved to a small rural town when our girls were 4 and 2. That winter we were essentially starting over. My previous job had ended and we began what has now been a 30+ year adventure in our new town.
After arriving in the fall of 1983, we began the process of settling in. We dealt with the normal; new friends, unfamiliar church, strange stores and a rented house. Two years previously we had built a house, but had moved based on a future opportunity to become a business owner.
We spent most of what we had to make the move, we found ourselves short on cash with Christmas quickly approaching. Add to that the fact that I was hospitalized for the first time since I had gotten my tonsils removed at 5 years old, and it made a tough Christmas. Our health insurance deductible required payment at the time of discharge, which caused further strain.
As Christmas drew nearer, my wife discovered that a local store was having an auction to sell off remaining inventory. We went to the auction with the sole objective of buying our girls their Christmas gifts.
Our budget for Christmas that year might look different than yours generally does. We had $12 at our disposal as I recall. We came home with a record player and a pair of skates. Both were out of box displays and were not been sold at the going out of business sale preceding the auction. These items were not exactly our heart’s desire. God had entrusted us with these girls and we certainly didn’t feel like this was what we would have envisioned their gifts looking like.
A funny thing happened though. That morning, despite what we believed about the gifts we had purchased, the girls were ecstatic. Humble though our gifts were, it did not matter to them one bit. I can still remember their squeals and happy faces. Now we have celebrated Christmas on more than 30 occasions, and try as I might I cannot remember but one other Christmas gift that meant so much.
The fervor of gift buying is contagious. In fact, the average adult in 2016 spent $419 on Christmas gifts. Slightly higher than our $12. We learned through our experience that it doesn’t take a lot of money to make the gift-giving enjoyable. As you plan for your gift purchases, make sure that you remember that even something as inexpensive as $12 can be enough.