It's that season again! I know there are a lot of scrooge's in my life that find my love of Christmas a little annoying (especially the scrooge that has to haul our 9 foot tall, 6 foot wide Christmas tree out of storage...hi honey!). But Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year.......try to tell me you didn't just sing that song in your head!
And since Christmas time is upon us, that means it's also time for this........
I love the bell ringers. Granted, the bell itself gets a little annoying, but I LOVE what it means, what the money does, the fact that somebody.....LOTS of somebodies.........have volunteered hours of their life to stand outside in the freezing cold and ring a bell. It might not look like they're doing much, but they're sacrificing their time--maybe they have a family they're not eating dinner with. Maybe there's a party with friends that they're missing. Maybe they're giving up a warm, cozy nap.
Our family made a visit to Hobby Lobby last night. On the way in, Tommy saw the lady ringing the bell and said, "What is dat lady DOIN?! Why is she ringin dat bell?" I smiled awkwardly at her while trying to get Tommy to stop gawking and get inside. I was really excited because I wanted to start a new tradition.The kids were each going to get a little miniature tree and then got to pick out two packages of ornaments for their tree. I'd been planning it for weeks! Of course, Hobby Lobby was packed and it's full of breakable stuff, so I was kind of nervous because the cart was only big enough for Tessa, so Tommy was walking. They were pretty good overall, but I was getting frustrated because...1) It wasn't going the way I'd planned where my two sweet little angels were in awe over the new tradition I was starting and oh so thankful that they got their OWN tree and their OWN ornaments--TOTALLY acceptable expectations for a 1 and 2 year old, right?.....and 2) It was turning out to be a little more expensive than I thought it would be. Not a huge deal, but again, not what I had planned.
Tommy kept wanting more than two packages of ornaments. He had some picked out and kept grabbing more and knocking stuff down. I would explain that we could only get two, he would put them all back except the two he wanted and then a few seconds later, the process would start again. Tessa was just grabbing at anything and everything she could get her hands on. It was KINDA a big mess. I finally got it pared down to two packs for each kid and we hurried to the register to pay (and get the kids as far away from Hobby Lobby as possible!). As we walked out with our cart, I heard the bell again. I just happened to have cash (which is a small miracle in itself), so I pulled a dollar out for each of them. Tommy got excited to have money until I explained to him that we were going to give it away. He kept asking WHY. I got all excited and saw this as a great opportunity to explain to him that when we have the chance, we need to give stuff to other people to show them God's love and because other people don't always have the stuff they need and that since Jesus gives to us, we need to do the same......but the whole time I was talking to him, he was dancing around, pulling on the cart and running toward the entrance. It felt like I was wasting my breath and my time. But we headed outside and put our dollars in the red bucket. Tommy got excited and I said, "See buddy?!? Doesn't it feel so good to give to other people?" He stared at me for a second and then said, "I want some CANDY!!"
Yeah.
I was disappointed because sometimes I feel like nothing gets through his head. Like I'm talking to thin air. Like I'm wasting my time. I was disappointed but tried not to get too upset because he's only two and how much can I expect a two year old to understand, right?
We headed home and started putting our Christmas trees together. I got all the ornaments out of their package and they were both so excited! We started hanging them on their little trees. In typical toddler fashion, we had a few fights over which ornaments belonged to who, where they would go on the tree and just about anything else one could think of to fight over. I was getting so discouraged. I felt like we were totally missing the holiday cheer and the true meaning of Christmas. Nick came in the room to see what we were doing. Tommy told him we were "puttin up our 'missmas' trees." He also told him we went to "hobby dobby." And then he said this.......
"We gived money, Daddy! To dat lady ringin da bell. Jesus helps us, so we give money to udder peoples!! Right, Mom?"
I almost cried.
He hears me.
Every. single. word.
I'm not wasting my time.
And since Christmas time is upon us, that means it's also time for this........
I love the bell ringers. Granted, the bell itself gets a little annoying, but I LOVE what it means, what the money does, the fact that somebody.....LOTS of somebodies.........have volunteered hours of their life to stand outside in the freezing cold and ring a bell. It might not look like they're doing much, but they're sacrificing their time--maybe they have a family they're not eating dinner with. Maybe there's a party with friends that they're missing. Maybe they're giving up a warm, cozy nap.
Our family made a visit to Hobby Lobby last night. On the way in, Tommy saw the lady ringing the bell and said, "What is dat lady DOIN?! Why is she ringin dat bell?" I smiled awkwardly at her while trying to get Tommy to stop gawking and get inside. I was really excited because I wanted to start a new tradition.The kids were each going to get a little miniature tree and then got to pick out two packages of ornaments for their tree. I'd been planning it for weeks! Of course, Hobby Lobby was packed and it's full of breakable stuff, so I was kind of nervous because the cart was only big enough for Tessa, so Tommy was walking. They were pretty good overall, but I was getting frustrated because...1) It wasn't going the way I'd planned where my two sweet little angels were in awe over the new tradition I was starting and oh so thankful that they got their OWN tree and their OWN ornaments--TOTALLY acceptable expectations for a 1 and 2 year old, right?.....and 2) It was turning out to be a little more expensive than I thought it would be. Not a huge deal, but again, not what I had planned.
Tommy kept wanting more than two packages of ornaments. He had some picked out and kept grabbing more and knocking stuff down. I would explain that we could only get two, he would put them all back except the two he wanted and then a few seconds later, the process would start again. Tessa was just grabbing at anything and everything she could get her hands on. It was KINDA a big mess. I finally got it pared down to two packs for each kid and we hurried to the register to pay (and get the kids as far away from Hobby Lobby as possible!). As we walked out with our cart, I heard the bell again. I just happened to have cash (which is a small miracle in itself), so I pulled a dollar out for each of them. Tommy got excited to have money until I explained to him that we were going to give it away. He kept asking WHY. I got all excited and saw this as a great opportunity to explain to him that when we have the chance, we need to give stuff to other people to show them God's love and because other people don't always have the stuff they need and that since Jesus gives to us, we need to do the same......but the whole time I was talking to him, he was dancing around, pulling on the cart and running toward the entrance. It felt like I was wasting my breath and my time. But we headed outside and put our dollars in the red bucket. Tommy got excited and I said, "See buddy?!? Doesn't it feel so good to give to other people?" He stared at me for a second and then said, "I want some CANDY!!"
Yeah.
I was disappointed because sometimes I feel like nothing gets through his head. Like I'm talking to thin air. Like I'm wasting my time. I was disappointed but tried not to get too upset because he's only two and how much can I expect a two year old to understand, right?
We headed home and started putting our Christmas trees together. I got all the ornaments out of their package and they were both so excited! We started hanging them on their little trees. In typical toddler fashion, we had a few fights over which ornaments belonged to who, where they would go on the tree and just about anything else one could think of to fight over. I was getting so discouraged. I felt like we were totally missing the holiday cheer and the true meaning of Christmas. Nick came in the room to see what we were doing. Tommy told him we were "puttin up our 'missmas' trees." He also told him we went to "hobby dobby." And then he said this.......
"We gived money, Daddy! To dat lady ringin da bell. Jesus helps us, so we give money to udder peoples!! Right, Mom?"
I almost cried.
He hears me.
Every. single. word.
I'm not wasting my time.
2 comments:
...brought tears to my eyes. You are doing something right.
...brought tears to my eyes. You are doing something right.
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