I'm Getting Bold Here

I grew up with big Christmases. There were always lots of presents to open, some big and some small. My role as the oldest child was to distribute the gifts and make sure everyone had a gift to open when it was their turn. After that, we’d eat breakfast, clean up, get ready, and head over to an aunt’s house for Christmas Round Two. Again, gifts were passed out, but because there were so many of us (often over 30) we all just opened the gifts at once. Thank-yous were shouted across the room as gifts continued to be opened. It was fun, hectic, and strange. I think the first time Matt celebrated Christmas with me, he was very overwhelmed by all the chaos.

Here’s the truth: I could not tell you what I’ve received from an extended relative ever, relatives who I really do love deeply. It’s not that I wasn’t appreciative at the time. Sure, I wore the scarf for a season or I used the shower gel until it was gone. But the meaning of WHY we give gifts at Christmas always seems to get lost in the chaos we create.

I want to put an end to the chaos.

My parents are excellent gift-givers. My mom knows exactly what kind of pants I wear from The Limited, what piece I need for my nativity scene, and what earrings I like to wear. Frankly, I love Christmas morning at my parent’s house; it's by far the best part of the day. But when I think of the Christmas mornings that really meant something to me, one always comes to mind first.

One year my parents didn’t have as much money to spend on us kids as they did in the past, something that I know was hard for them. But it wasn’t hard on my sister, brother, or me. We each received something special from my parents, something they wanted to pass down to us. My sister got my mom’s ruby ring, a ring my mom purchased for herself when she was a teenager. My brother got an autographed baseball, something my dad treasured since he was a little boy. And I got my mom’s cross, something she once wore for years. Each gift was accompanied with a letter explaining the significance of the item, and why my parents chose to give it to us. I remember all of us sitting in the living room, reading the letters. There was a quiet, peaceful spirit surrounding us. I will never forget that morning. My parents gave of themselves to us, which meant more than anything that could have been purchased.

I’m tired of celebrating, worshiping consumerism – isn’t that what Christmas has really become? Don’t we celebrate the sales, throw ourselves into debt, run ourselves ragged and tired – for what? To buy a gift that we’ll forget we gave, to receive a gift that we don’t care about just because it’s December 25th? I’m tired of celebrating consumerism in the name of Christmas.

I want to celebrate and worship Christ, my savior who was born for me, for all. A baby who entered this world to offer us grace and peace and redemption and himself. Christ gave himself to us. Now what does buying my husband an ipod have to do with that?

The first time we heard the idea of Advent Conspiracy, two years ago, we knew we wanted to be part of it. The truth, though, is that it was hard. Last year was a bit easier, and this year? Well, I’m pretty excited about this year. The point is each person’s response might look a bit different, and that’s okay.

The idea behind Advent Conspiracy is that we spend less, give more, worship fully, and love all. For example, the gifts I’m giving this year will cost less but I hope they are much more meaningful. I’m giving relationally, just as Christ gave himself. The money we save will be donated to our church’s Advent offering, which will be 100% redistributed locally and globally, again, just as Christ gave himself. Throughout this, we worship Christ, not consumerism.



What do you think? Does this approach to Christmas stir your soul? It does mine, and I know it does others. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always been a sucker for a good conspiracy.

**********

Interested in changing your Christmas but feel totally lost for ideas or need more information? Check out these websites:

Advent Conspiracy: info, sermons, resources, etc.

Rethinking Christmas : a place to share ideas

Ready Made Magazine : more ideas

The Mother Letter Project: a lovely idea and it needs YOUR help!

Living Water International: a water organization Advent Conspiracy teams with

These are just a few I’ve found… feel free to pass on new ideas!

Big Changes Ahead

I have never gotten into technology; I can work it just fine, but I don't really care about having the latest thing. I could care less what phone I talk on, what tv I watch, which computer I browse, or how I listen to music as long as it does what it’s supposed to do. When Matt and I got married and moved in together, he brought all the cool gadgets, and I brought a tv/vcr combo and a twenty dollar dvd player from Wal-Mart. Somehow, those things didn’t make it to Oregon.

We don’t have cable, and I don’t say that to sound self-righteous. We don’t have cable because we’re lazy enough without it… bring in 100 channels, and we’d never leave the couch again. Instead, we have rabbit ears on top of the tv, which I affectionately call Gregor; from the couch, it looks like we’ve got our very own giant roach. It’s not exactly classy, but we hide them when guests come over. (See? JUST LIKE GREGOR.) It doesn’t bug me (HA!) to watch the tv, but one fade-out and Matt is bouncing around to find the next perfect spot to pose the antenna. I’ve conditioned myself to believe that tv is supposed to have interruption.

And that’s my approach to technology. My tv/vcr combo is supposed to want to keep the tape after I try and eject it. My dvd player is supposed to be propped on its side to play. My ipod is supposed to be thicker than a pop-tart. My hair dryer is supposed to smell like fire after two minutes.

Eventually, I always come to realize it’s time for a replacement. Last week, it was finally time to replace my cell phone.

The battery began to only last for an hour or two, even after being charged all night. I let this go on for about a month until Matt finally convinced me it was time for a replacement. I asked Matt to just pick one out for me; I didn’t want to deal with it, and all the options overwhelmed me. My phone and I had been together for a long time, much longer than anyone expected.

4.5 years to be exact – one year longer than I’ve been married to Matt. The cover of the phone still says Cingular, and the 2 and 3, Matt and my mom’s speed dial numbers, are rubbed off completely. There are scrapes and scratches all over. But up until a month ago, it worked just fine, so, even though I could have upgraded my phone twice already, I just didn't see a reason until now.

My shiny, new phone arrived last Thursday. It took a few days for me to get used to it, but you know what? I think I love it. Did you know cell phones these days CAN TAKE PICTURES?

The Weekend

Last weekend, my good friend Chelsea came for a visit. She was my first college roommate, and after our first meeting we were both confident we’d need a new roommate at semester. Thankfully, our first impressions of each other were completely off.

We’re not typical friends. We are both very different people, and we have very different friends, which is why I treasure our friendship so much. I have a handful of friends that I consider some of God’s very biggest gifts to me – she’s one of them.

We’ve had a lot of visitors stay with us in Portland, and I take pride in my hosting skills. But Chels definitely gets the award for being the easiest to please. She’s a photographer, an amazing photographer, and what she wanted to do most was take pictures. So we took her to one of our favorite wineries, and we took her to the park downtown, and then she asked to go to an old warehouse. So we did. And if I do say so myself, she got some mighty fine pictures along the way. You can check some of them out HERE. Don't be confused: they're not our engagement pictures; they're our 3.5 years of marriage, Portland life pictures. Doesn't everybody take those?

So if you live in Phoenix, it’s time you hire Chels to take some pictures. And if you don’t live in the area, it’s time you fly Chels to your home. She is an excellent guest.

Whether You Consider it a Win or Loss, At Least it's OVER

There are two reasons why I love living in Oregon during an election. First, we only do mail-in ballots. I spent one evening researching our state’s measures and candidates and voted on what I believed ALL FROM THE COMFORT OF MY COUCH. And then! I just put it in my mailbox! Some have said this leads to conspiracy (I'm usually all for a good conspiracy, but I've chosen to sit this one out.), and some say it’s not as meaningful as standing in line and being in a booth. I don’t care; mail-in ballots are totally on my top five of favorite things ever.

The other reason why I love elections in Oregon is because of the time difference. I don’t have to stay up late watching the news, waiting and wondering. As soon as the west coast states’ polls closed at 8pm, guess what happened? We had a new president, a president that I won't deny I voted for. Feel free to either thank or hate California, Oregon, and Washington.

I ran into some old-coworkers yesterday who are lovely people. Outspoken people. Very political people. And this video made me laugh so much thinking about them.

I just hope they don’t die.

Totally Worth It

Can I just brag for one minute about how awesome Matt is?

Last week, he came home with tickets to see David Sedaris. Some of you might be rolling your eyes and thinking how white of you, while others might be wondering why we would pay money to hear someone read. But it was absolutely worth it. Sitting on the back row in the sold out concert hall, Matt and I laughed the entire two hours. He read stuff written just for the tour, stuff that didn’t make it in his book, and a few articles recently published. If Mr. Sedaris is ever in your neck of the woods, GO. No, seriously. GO.

Matt also loves Sedaris, so it was a treat for him, too. But he loves the Portland Trailblazers more, and their first home game was the same night. Matt’s office has season tickets, so he gets to go just about whenever he wants. He could have gone to the Blazers’ game, but he took me to Sedaris instead. That is why he is so very awesome.

Oh, but don’t worry. We still made it to a bar in time to catch the 4th quarter. I think they even won.