Home for the (Stress Free) Holidays: No Debt

Debt is not your friend.

One of the things about debt that bugs me the most, is that the debtor truly is servant to the lender. Whether you are in the corporate world of financing dealing with millions/billions, or have just one small balance on a personal credit card. It's all the same. The lender rules you.

Before you go out and rack up some Christmas bills, please take a moment to think about how you will feel when your January statements come. If things are tight enough now, where Christmas needs to be financed, it's certainly not going to be easier come the new year.

I've had many modest Christmases in my life -- both on the giving and the receiving end. In fact, most Christmases have been that way, but they've all been so wonderful. The older I get, the more I've come to understand that we are more blessed to give than receive. And sometimes, in fact, most of the time the giving doesn't have to cost much at all. How many times do we fret and worry about getting our loved ones just the right gift -- usually something expensive?

I remember last year; for my birthday, my mom wrote me a beautiful letter. She wrote about how happy she was that I waited all those years to marry my George. She knew how difficult it was for me to wait for God's best, but was so happy to finally see me reaping the reward. That letter is one my most treasured possessions.

When my dad was old and beginning to feel his age I used to go visit him. He has always lived with very little in the way of material things and as a young adult I had very little with which to buy a gift for him. Turns out that was okay. Daddy only wanted to spend time with me. He was always so proud of all of us kids -- he just wanted to know we were doing okay and to enjoy our presence.

Those of you with children may wonder how on earth you can provide a nice Christmas without spending a lot of money, especially when the list to Santa is a mile long with expensive gifts. I used to ask for all the popular toys of the day too. But you know what? The gifts are not what I remember (or in my case, not getting the gifts). What I so fondly remember is traipsing out in our old truck to the wood lot to saw down some scraggly Charlie Brown tree and then placing the best side towards the living room and decorating it with all our treasured mismatched ornaments, and the two strands of outdoor lights. We used to make those red and green paper chains and hung them up on the tree and sometimes all around the kitchen. I used to help my dad making wooden rocking horses to sell so that he could buy a little something special for our Christmas. Sometimes we would go to town and sell a pig. Oh, and the Christmas cookies! My mother loves to bake and she's always more than happy to let little hands help. We used to make some delicious frosted sugar cookies and then use the leftover icing to fill graham crackers.

There's no doubt, when we were making all of these memories I so dearly cherish my parents were weary and worried. Yes, they were tired, weary and some years sick with a bad cold, and no money for the doctor. These fun, festive activities took place all they while they were carrying the full load of a busy farm. They were no doubt sick of heart because they could not afford nicer gifts, a better dinner, and something warm for us to wear. It must have hurt their pride something awful to have a box delivered to the front door a couple of weeks before Christmas -- providing what they could not, no matter how hard they worked.

My parents are amazing people; we never knew how hard the holidays were for them. They put on smiling, cheerful faces and gave us the most precious gifts -- their time and their love.

Maybe this winter is a tough one for you. You might be struggling with the loss of a loved one. You or your spouse might be without work. You might be wondering how to pay the heat bills and not lose your home. Whatever it is that's troubling you, I encourage you to talk to God about it. He's here and He cares. Do you remember that old hymn? No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus, it's all true.

In this giving season, let's focus on giving the things that don't cost anything in the monetary sense but are so much more valuable. We can give the very same things our Savior gives us; forgiveness, joy, love, mercy, hope.