Simplicity

Yesterday was the youth group girls' Christmas party. We held it at my house and combined the jr. high and high school groups; this made it easier on the female leaders: Mandy, Elisabeth and myself. We decorated cookies, had a gingerbread house making contest (high school won!), ate a Christmas dinner of roast, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls and then went caroling.
Eleven girls and three leaders went marching down my street stopping at any house with lights on inside to sing a Christmas song and then yell "Merry Christmas" before heading to the next one. I wasn't sure what to expect. I've never really caroled in a neighborhood, just nursing homes. Do we knock first or just start singing? Will they open their doors?
A few did. The first house we stopped at was my neighbor's. She is a very nice older woman. I think she didn't know what to make of us because she peeked through her drapes but never actually opened anything. Slightly discouraged we went to a house across the road that belongs to the grandparents of a friend of mine.
Her grandpa opened the door and listened while we sang. He thanked us when we finished and watched as we headed to the next house. We had no response from the next house but then the house after, an older woman came to her door and listened. She also thanked us and kept her door open to listen as we walked to the next house. A woman and her young son came to the door, opened it and then disappeared. A moment later she returned with her husband who joined in as we sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." He told us how great it was we were caroling and thanked us. We went to a few houses after his, only getting response from one more.
I got teared up at one of the houses, with the elderly woman, as I realized how sad it is that no one knows how to respond to this anymore. First of all, most of the girls in my youth group are either involved in choir or band. They practiced while they were making cookies, deciding who would take lead and who would sing harmony, etc. and sounded absolutely beautiful. I did not sing most of the time because it would have tainted their angel voices. A few held candles (mostly so we could see the song lyrics) and it was like a painting as big snowflakes fell around us. I hope my mental snapshot keeps for a long time.
When we returned we read the Christmas story and talked about what Christmas means to each of us, what the things are that excite us during this time. Most of them said the presents, which doesn't surprise me given their ages. A few lamented the fact their parents said they would be scaling back this year. Mandy and I (Elisabeth had left by this point so she could put her son to bed) reminded them of the importance of Christmas and told them how much we enjoyed the simplicity of it this year due to economic times.
Simplicity.
I love it.
I love that this year I am not stressed out about what to buy for people because most of our family members are not buying gifts for one another. We simply can't. Tim and I cashed in some points from our bank accounts to get a couple gift cards for each other. It was free. We'll spend $5 on each of our kids and that's it. Some may think we're cheap. I don't care. Our kids aren't really hurting for any toys right now as it is. I want to start early in showing them that this season is not about getting things they want. We do love to give gifts, but we aren't going to send ourselves into debt to do it. I want to teach them to be genuinely thankful, not just to say the words.
One of my youth group girls wailed to me yesterday about how we don't have a TV. "Does Noah even know who Dora is?" she asked. I told her that he does and that he prefers Diego. "What about Backyardigans?" she fought back. I told her that he loves his backyard friends, the Backyardigans and watches them at my parents' house. She continued to ask me how we watch certain shows and I told her that there are some we just don't. We have our few favorites that we watch online but that's it. During the winter we seem to spend more time reading, watching movies, I knit, Tim falls asleep on the couch...it's a much quiter time for us.
We like it that way. We spend so much of our time going, going, going. Winter is our time to hibernate in a sense. I'm sure part of is the weather and the fact no one wants to drag their kids out and about when it's cold and snowy. So we spend more time with those in our household reconnecting and enjoying each other.
How can you simplify your life right now? Do you need to? Can you think of the last time you spent an evening sitting on the couch with your spouse talking about your dreams in life or reminiscing about the good old days before kids? =) Tim and I sometimes play a game where we ask each other questions about ourselves to see if the other can answer. It varies from things like "What is my favorite color?" to "What was my favorite vacation that we took together?" or "What do I want to be when I grow up?" As people we are always growing and changing and what might have been our favorites at what time, aren't anymore. Tim and I want to continue to know each other. We don't want to be the people who become empty nesters and look at each other to say "Who are you?"
Take some time to simplify this year. You won't be sorry that you did but you might be sorry if you don't.