The THOUGHT that COUNTS

Christmas shopping is so hard. It's not about the thoughts anymore, it's about how much for what. The thought just isn't there.

I even catch myself thinking, I don't know what to get them; should I just get them this? That is thoughtless. Reflecting on myself I think it's pretty rude. Do I not know my friends and family well enough to get them a present that they will enjoy? Or is it just too much of a burden to actually think about a person?

Even if someone celebrates Christmas because of the gifts, wouldn't they want to think about what they are giving? Isn't the point to give and not need to receive, and if that was really the point then wouldn't someone want to give the highest valued gift they could? Valued not priced. There is a difference.

Maybe it really has been this way all along...and I was just too blind to really see it. Maybe the price tag was what its really been about. But I find that hard to believe.

Every year when we put up our Christmas tree I find myself admiring the homemade ornaments more than the store bought. The store bought are just out dated and it's clearly visible in their fadedness...but that's not the point. The point is, there are homemade Christmas ornaments that are older than the store bought, and they never look out dated. They look aged but with the graceful kind of aging (the kind that people want to happen to them). They don't look ugly because they were made with more than just glass or yarn or paint, they were made by the hands of people we love. Those ornaments were made with thought, each and everyone of them, every stitch or stroke or cut. Every single piece of its being was purposefully made that way, for us.

And I love them and I hope to have them when I get a tree, I hope to get some just like them, gifts that required thought and are timeless to me. The price tag shouldn't be more thought provoking as the people we are buying the gifts for. To me, ideally, presents should be a reflection of a person. Presents should be more about the person than the price tag, and people should start to understand this as they receive and give presents.

It's the THOUGHT that COUNTS.