Whenever someone asks me what my favorite holiday is I always say “Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it involves spending quality time with the people that I love.”
I cringe in September when I start to see hints of Christmas as I shop. Thanksgiving gets thrown away in November as we become bombarded with Christmas every where we turn. The day after Thanksgiving has become the BIGGEST holiday ever for shopping for bargains. I admit that I have gotten caught up in that need to spend more, get more, and charge more than I have to make Christmas memorable for those I love. I have become so disillusioned. It didn’t feel right. Then I read “Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?” and I saw that on page 13 “..the amount of money we spend on Christmas in America is close to forty-five times the amount of money it would take to supply the entire world with clean water.” And from page 96 “Let’s confront that reality again: nearly four thousand children die every day…from dirty water.” 45x, 4,000 children die a day…what am I doing buying things that my loved ones don’t need or want?
I have always wanted Christmas to be about Jesus and his birth, but have allowed myself to get swept into the worship of consumerism. After reading the book, I have decided that I want to break that cycle this year. I want Christmas to be about Jesus. I also got the DVD that accompanies the Discussion Guide in this book and I intend to watch it with my husband. I want my family to do Christmas differently this year. I want my family to do Christmas right this year. I can’t believe that I have been the Grinch all these years, but, now, after reading this book I too feel like my heart has grown three sizes today.
The ideas are simple in the book and easy to follow. The chapters include: “Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All, What If?”
I am starting to feel better about Christmas already. I may even be able to tell people that Christmas is my favorite holiday. I think it is time for me to join the Advent Conspiracy…we are all invited…
Check out their website http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
Here’s a video blurb promoting it too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6g6PkSa9Bk
Christy
