'Tis the Season

To be jolly

No.

  'Tis the season to run around like a mad man trying to find the perfect presents for your family and friends.

 I am no good at buying presents.  I have never been a good gift giver.  My husband's family is another story.  My mother in law is the best gift giver on the planet.  Not only will she find the perfect, most sentimental gift, but she will also find it for half price.

So no worries.  

My husband has only grown up with the best Christmas presents any child could hope to have.

No pressure there.

Thus, to try and hold some glimmer to the Christmases he has had in the past, I have been searching, shopping, thinking, stewing, and asking to find a good present for my husband.

And I have been slightly overwhelmed.  Finding presents is hard.  Scott is the one who has it easy.  Last Christmas I went on a shopping spree to Banana Republic, wrapped the clothes, and then told Scott what he got me.  Couldn't find an easier way to give gifts than that!

So, today I finished my shopping.  I felt relief for around two minutes.  Then the doubt began to set in.  

Had I found the right gift?

Was Scott going to like it?

What if he doesn't?

What if I spent too much?

What if I spent to little?

And then it hit me.  I was wasting one of the best seasons out of the whole year.  I was waisting the Christmas season worrying about presents.  For some, Christmas is all about the presents, but I didn't want it to be that way for me or my family.  And, yet, that is what I was allowing Christmas to become.  

So, today, I am letting go.  I will wrap the presents that I have and they will be enough.  I am gong to stop worrying so much about finding the perfect gift and focus more on creating memories, memories that will hopefully stick around longer than the gifts.

So, in the next to weeks, we are going to:

Build a ginger bread house

Drink hot chocolate

Drive around and look at Christmas lights

Listen to Christmas music until we can't anymore (This might be impossible to accomplish)

Help someone in need

Spend time with family

Remember the Savior and his birth

Because after all, these things, and not the presents, are what make the season magical.