No More Christmas Presents

[irishcowboy]

mrcorey,

Are we allowed to get your address?

My family and I love sending Christmas Cards

if you wish to send some one your address, i would recommend it be done only in PM .... not open forum.... and then be careful...... same with phone numbers...

mik

e

[disconnected]

This year I will not be buying presents for any of my kids.

We will be together, we will have dinner, we will celebrate our Lord but we will NOT participate in gift giving or buying.

I am thinking that perhaps I will get my kids to particiapte in charitable causes and then we can watch some movies and eat a wonderful dinner together.

I've never been really big on Christmas...none of my kids knew about Santa until school.

[Bolts]

if you wish to send some one your address, i would recommend it be done only in PM .... not open forum.... and then be careful...... same with phone numbers...

mike

Thanks Mike - will take heed

[Keith]

I'm not a gifter either. I've spent my holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) at nursing homes and homeless shelters for the last 18 years. Then again, I volunteer at them all year long, so it's not a once-a-year thing for me.

To be honest, I don't remember the last gift I ever received for any occasion. I have no needs, so.... I have no family whatsoever and when my friends ask what they can get me, I ask them to put the money they would have spent on me towards a charitable cause or towards one of their bills. I can't stand the thought of someone with debt spending money on me, even though the thought means a lot to me.

[Leonard]

Oh come on all you spoil-sports and bah-humbuggers! Get into the spirit of the season: Send ME gifts!!!

[jmh137]

Well I'm in total agreement with you all. It's been about 2 to 3 years now that I have been so burdened at Christmas time that I don't even enjoy what the reason of the season is. I am really in a money crisis also, so that helped to influence me not to give but to the children this time.

I think it's really great to give gifts to children who cannot possibly get any gifts any other way. I wish that I could do more of that. I've seen a show about the little children who received dolls and toys for the very first time in their lives. When they gave them the presents, they would say "Jesus loves you," so they would connect the toy to the Lord.

I really want to get back to the heart of Christmas this time, but it is always so hectic that it is hard to do. I pray that I will celebrate my Lord's birthday with thanksgiving this year. Please pray for me to be able to. .......jmh137

[InternalFlame]

I myself am an advocate of making presents. Since I love art, and I am currently majoring in jewelry design, I am designing a cross necklace for everyone in my family for Christmas...I think it's a great idea to use your God-given talents to make gifts for loved ones.

[Giaour]

There are many people who are alone during the holidays. Find a neighbor who has no family and invite them over for dinner.

Go to the nursing home on Christmas and just visit with them. Fill the void by giving of yourselves to others. That's what Jesus would do.

Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity to feed the homeless in a soup kitchen. Serve others a meal on thanksgiving.

There are so many ways to help others and yet help yourself beat the lonliness of the holiday season.

I make my Christmass gifts for everyone. Don't get caught up in the buy buy buy stuff.

We make cookies, quilts, pillows, photo albums,arts and crafts things for family.

I think they mean more when you put your sweat and tears into them.

My mom and dad give time gifts.

They take each one of us kids seperately to do something fun.

Mom took me to swim with the dolphins, dad took my hubby to a car race etc.

It doesn't have to be that fancy.Just give them a dinner out with you. Special one on one time.

It means so much to me, especially now that my dad has cancer.

Time together is priceless.

Please don't let the commercialism take the true meaning of Christmas from your hearts.

Jesus gave to us so give to others of yourself.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Keith]

As somone who has been alone on holidays for years, except for my volunteer work, I would like to offer a bit of advice from the single person's point of view.

If you are kind enough to ask someone whose alone for the holidays to spend it with you and your family, please don't "insist". If some of us say, "No, but thank you for asking," we aren't trying to get you to insist. The fact that you asked us really is gift enough. Knowing that we don't have to be alone for the holiday if we don't want to be. Knowing that someone thought enough of us to want to spend their holiday with us means a lot and really is a gift in itself! But, some of us, not all, of course, but some of us feel very uncomfortable barging in on what is usually regarded as family time. The time spent sharing a meal is fine, but it's that other time when the family is doing their traditional gift opening and sharing stories that can make some single people feel like they're intruding. I've even seen enough gracious hosts who didn't seem to think about the entire evening and then get uncomfortable themselves during those times. They feel bad for the single person and want to involve them but not have a gift for them to open - and the single person not have a gift for them because of the lateness of the invite. I've even had hosts kind enough to try to surrender one of their gifts!

As gracious and kind as the effort is, there are parts that can be extremely uncomfortable for the single person and the host. After a couple of "I insist you come!'s", I have decided to just kindly say, "Thanks for thinking of me, that means a lot to me, but I'm perfectly fine being by myself for the holidays!"

I'm mainly speaking about Christmas, of course...

[refugepsa91]

I myself am an advocate of making presents. Since I love art, and I am currently majoring in jewelry design, I am designing a cross necklace for everyone in my family for Christmas...I think it's a great idea to use your God-given talents to make gifts for loved ones.

This is exactely what I do for the ones I love the most! To me spending time and taking great care in a item that you are making for someone means so much more than going and pulling something off the shelf.

Love and Blessings,

Angel