Three Gifts of Christmas

Choosing Three Gifts of Christmas and Experiencing the Joy of the Holiday Season

Have you ever been so overwhelmed during the holidays that you have no idea what to do?  I mean, there is baking, decorating, multiple parties to go and host, and then you have gift-giving on top of it all.  Gift-giving can be fun but can become so stressful. How do you assure that all the kids get equal gifts and still keep them under budget?  It is enough to make even the sanest person go a little crazy!

Now, I have always been a minimalist, even before being one was cool and acceptable.  I have never wanted to worry about going into debt or worrying about whether I had the money to pay for everything in my cart and pay the rest of the bills for the month.  Plus, why would I want to overload my children with a bunch of “stuff”  that they might play with for a few minutes and then toss aside to go in the donation bin the following year?

Over the years I have adapted our Christmas into something I really enjoy with our Three gifts of Christmas.

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The 3 Gifts

A few years ago, I heard about the idea of giving just three gifts to each child for Christmas, and to be honest, the idea intrigued me.  The thought process behind this amazing idea was that Jesus Christ was given only three gifts, one from each of the Wise Men, at his birth, so why shouldn’t everyone else be happy with the same number of presents?

Now, the Wise Men did put a lot of thought into the gifts that they brought to Jesus, so please be prepared to do more than grab three insignificant items off the store shelf and call it a day!

Here are the three gifts that Jesus was given and why they were considered important and significant:

The 1st Gift of Christmas: Gold

Gold is considered the Gift of Wonder and it symbolizes something of great value.  You may even want to consider wrapping this gift in gold to give it a little extra meaning.  This is always the most expensive gift, the gift that they want the most, or the BIG gift that our budget allows. Even though my kids are grown adults we still love the magic of Santa so we play that up and have this gift from Santa.

The 2nd Gift of Christmas: Frankincense

Frankincense is considered the Gift of Meaning and it is usually wrapped in red paper to signify the spirituality of the gift.  In case you are not aware, frankincense is a type of tree sap that was burned in temples along with the meal offerings.  We always give our children either a spiritual gift or something with sentimental value for this one.  A few of the items we have done in the past have included:

• a scrapbook,
• a family heirloom,
• a journal,
• art work,
• spiritual movies or music,
• or letters that were written from the heart.

The 3rd Gift of Christmas: Myrrh

Myrrh is considered the Gift of Usefulness and it is always wrapped in green paper.  It is an aromatic tree resin that is used as medicine and oil for purification rituals.  This gift is always a practical item or something that can be used for the body.   For this gift, we usually choose a:

• blanket,
• clothing,
• shoes,
• and sometimes our traditional Christmas PJs if the money is a little stretched that year
• stocks

Of course, if we do have a little extra cash, we give the pajamas as a bonus gift.

I have started to enjoy the holiday season once again.

Instead, I keep track of things my children say throughout the year and sometimes pick items up four or five months before the Christmas season begins.  Once I have three gifts for each child, I know my shopping is finished, and the rest of my time can be spent being present in their lives.

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