Christie worked long and hard last year to get everyone just the right Christmas present. There was months of research involved and a lot of thought was given as to who the person was, what they might enjoy, what things were available in their area, what family members could do together, lots of thought.

The idea was this, don’t just run to the store and give a present, give an experience, a day of fun, a memory.

We draw names for Christmas in our family, so we give gifts one on one. The names Christie had she thought about, she spent tons of time on line learning about the area they live in, she thought about likes and dislikes, she though about memories that could be shared over and over. For instance; she gave me sister Kim and my daughter Alison gift cards to the rainforest cafe, however that was just the beginning. She also researched all the free activities there was to do in that same area that would be fun and interesting and bonus…….free! There were gardens to visit, fun shops and stores to see, water shows, all kinds of things that would make a fun day.

For my husband and myself she built a day around a city she loves that isn’t far from where we live. There is an old part of town that is great for strolling and window shopping, which I love. There is a park where big horn sheep come down to feed most times of the year and aren’t far from humans, at which place we would partake of the picnic she prepared for us. There is a a train ride that takes you out to a huge dam and back, which we also love. And several other things on a very well prepared list that would take us a full day to enjoy. When we opened this envelope for Christmas it was obvious that she thought about how we needed a vacation but had very little time, and so she had set up this day trip as a mini vacation where we could slow down and enjoy each others company. It was quite thoughtful.

For her own daughter she took her to a big hotel that has a pretty darn good aquarium and several other things they could do as a family. Brooke was just barely 2, so I’m sure she didn’t really get the significance of her mothers gift or maybe even appreciate what kind of courage it takes to take a 2 year old to such a place. But Christie will have that memory and be able to share it with her for years to come.

My friend Judy has always had rules for giving gifts to her children, from the time they were just tiny things. It goes something like this: something to read, something to do, something to wear and a memory to share. That’s about it, just 4 or 5 simple gifts per person, but each one is carefully chosen and thought about, usually for months before, and each holds significance to the person it was chosen for. Sometimes the memory is a person gift, sometimes it has been tickets to a special ballgame for fathers and sons to go to together, doesn’t really matter it’s always about the lasting memory and the joy it brings.

We forget sometimes that we cant buy peoples affections, we forget to really makes connections and instead we run out to a store and hastily grab a thing just to say we did it. How much better would Christmas be if we gave of ourselves? We could do as Christie did and give memories and activities. We could do as another friend of mine did and give service. All of her children were married and had homes of their own. So a couple years ago instead of drawing names they decided to give a full day of service to each other. Once a month for the whole year they would rotate through each others homes and gathered together they would landscape, clean clutter, plant gardens, paint a house, whatever that family wanted done here was a labor force of people who loved them to accomplish the deed. They had such a great year they decided to do it again the next year!

Christmas often feels like its about money, sometimes it feels like we have to one up each other. But Christmas is about the Christ child, Christmas is about family and love and memories and service. So maybe this year, instead of running to the store at the last minute, we start thinking about the people we love early. We think about their lives, their needs, dreams, hopes and building memories. How about we use some creativity and very little money and give of ourselves and our hearts. Just think of how many years you could be talking about the greatest Christmas you ever had!