wood-cutter's Blog

I know this Christmas will be meager and rough for quite a few of us. Im writing this to try to give peace to those that are in rough times. My family will not be having the "blowout" Christmas my kids are used to,not so much becaue we cant afford it but because its time this mentality stops!Im the one in my family that usually feels the pressure to give the kids EVERYTHING they want and I truly enjoy sitting back watching the lokks on thier faces as they open gift after gift.My wife has helped me see the error in my thinking.

Look back over this year and all the economic reality checks we have watched happen.What does it tell us? It should tell us that Americans have grown too big for thier britches and live well above thier means. Why do we think we need all this stuff? Tv ads? Keeping up with the "jones's"? Immediate material gratification? ..........I think we all suffer from these influences more often than we admit.

So sit back and ask yourself.....If you knew it was all going to be over six months from now,...What is REALLY important? What is your most important objective as a parent? Spouse? Brother? Sister? Son? Daughter? or friend?

I hope youll see that as a parent you want to teach your kids the realities of life and prepare them for life on thier own WITHOUT UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT LIFE WILL BE. Why are so many on "mood" drugs these days? Could it be that they expected too much out of life?Did thier parents misrepresent life in such a way that they ALWAYS feel "depressed"? I think thats it in a nutshell. America has come to a time of reckoning-we have built a house of cards that is starting to fail-we have simply inflated the bubble and now we will watch it burst!  I say GOOD!  Pop that bubble and lets get back to the things that are important in life. Lets stop focusing on the material things that only steal our time from whats important while fueling the fire through some sort of justification because we can rain down gifts on the ones we love. The ones that really would be happier if we took the time to grow closer to one another.

This holiday for Christians is supposed to be about the celebration of our Saviors birth and yet we have let it grow into a materialistic monster that lost the message and added tons of UNEEDED stress.

Thanks to my wife who has the uncanny knack of keeping this mans feet firmly planted on the ground and helps me to remember whats important and where to lay my burdens. She tells me to "lay them on the cross". It may sound simple or even silly to some,but that phrase gives me peace.

Even if your not a Christian or even a believer,let not your heart be troubled this year. Be the best friend,parent,sibling,son or daughter you can be and leave all the materialism out of it. If you do this you will undoubtably make a difference in somones life that they will be eternally grateful,WITHOUT SPENDING A DIME!

Hug your mom and dad,tell your kids you love them and want to prepare them for the real world, let your siblings know you are there for them and tell your friends why you call them "friends".If you believe,tell your God thank you for your health and all your blessings.

THESE ARE YOUR ONLY OBLIGATIONS THIS SEASON!

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!