Dec 22, 2008
2 questions to help us discover what kind of Christmas gift givers we are?
1. Is your gift-giving motivated more by generosity or guilt?
2. Does this picture make you say “Amen” or “Give it a rest, Scrooge”?
(image via Lingamish)
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That is the most terrifying Santa I have ever seen. The only thing it makes me want to do is cower in fear.
1. depends on the person I am buying for.
man that’s awful.
2. amen. (insert my disgust of consumerism).
Give it a rest, Scrooge.
scary picture! Good questions. The best gifts are ones that require more of a sacrifice than money. I love to give and would spend a lot more, but thankfully God gave me a hubby to balance it out.
(Jimmy Buehler? Jimmy is that you? Toccoa Falls College?)
I’m not the most generous person around, that’s for sure. I love giving people good books, but short of that, I pretty much suck at it. It’s pretty dutiful most of the time.
OOooh, generosity. I love to bless others. We set our budget and stick with it. And in my husband’s family we don’t do gift exchanges, we give money to charity instead and I think that is so cool. I’m so sick of the Consumer Santa. Give it a rest, Scrooge.
We did homemade gifts this year and it has been so much better!!!
We may never go back.
I don’t know. I just like seeing the kids having fun and being excited. Sorry if that’s wrong…
This was what I was thinking about when I blogged yesterday about Luke 2 over at
http://caughtnottaught.blogspot.com/
ED…
That may be one best Santa pictures I have ever seen! Haha. My gift giving is more of a guilt thing. I really am not much of a gift giver unless it is a really clever gift. I prefer to show my love with hugs, the second greatest gift ever given.
Abraham, I should give credit here to Wittenburg Door where I lifted the image. I’m not sure where they got it from. You can get to their post by clicking on the santa at my post.
My wife and I have tried for years to get out of the expensive gift reciprocating system but the only result is that we come off as stingy or not speaking others’ “love language.” It’s so tied to who we are as Americans that you need to tread carefully in this area.
Among my siblings and parents we draw names for one person and that at least limits the need for everybody to give to everybody else.
1. Motivated by “perceived expectations” (?) and
hopefully as generous as is prudent.
2. Not only “Give it a rest, Scrooge”, but “Shut it up!”
THE MOST GENEROUS GIFT THAT COVERS OUR GUILT: IMMANUEL
What does it mean if I’m am seriously afraid of that ??santa???
holymoly!
That. was. terrifying. I’ll be quoting Psalm 23 tonight for sure.
OTC: Rob and I aren’t buying gifts for each other… because we bought mega-expensive plane tickets to OK for Thanksgiving and to NV for Christmas. FWIW
Amen!
I love to give gifts, but at Christmas it mostly seems I do it out of guilt.
That’s the creepiest Santa I’ve ever seen.
We really enjoy picking out presents and giving them too. We like to celebrate Christmas and all that it means to us around here and presents aren’t the end-all, but they sure do help in the fun of celebrating.
1. Generosity, I think! I always want to give more than I can.
2. Ow. Give it a rest, Scrooge.
it’s a combo – there’s not really a choice in the matter of giving gifts or not. So it IS an obligation. But – that said – there’s still lots of fun in the choosing and wrapping and giving. My generosity is propelled by my guilt.
Sheesh.
Also, I wish I could just figure out how to ‘make Christmas happen’ without all the exhaustion. The gifts are only one of the many, many things that you ‘have to do’ this time of year. Cards, those special recipes, the decorations, cookies, going to Macy’s to see the show, …….. then Christmas comes and goes and I feel like I missed it again in all the rush. And wasn’t this supposed to be Jesus and all???
I disagree with the premise. I never buy gifts out of guilt. But I do buy some gifts out of a sense of obligation. There is an important difference. Not every person on my list is as fun to shop for as my own children. I purchase those gifts anyway because many times it’s the RIGHT thing to do.
It’s not a matter of PROVING that I love someone because most of the time it’s not about how much a particular gift costs. A thoughtfully chosen gift can mean more than an expensive, hastily purchased one.
For me, it’s all about thinking about that person–what they like, what they enjoy, what they particularly need—and then purchasing accordingly.
I love to give gifts!! Everyone can benefit from something hand-knit, right??
So I guess that explains why I don’t think it’s an either/or propositition. It’s possible to show others how much I love them without spending lots of money. But to back off gifts entirely just because they cost *something* seems ungenerous….
Both…I like to get gifts for people when I know it is something that will bless them and seems perfect for them. If I am buying a gift simply because I am seeing someone at Christmas and they are getting one for me for the same reason…I am irritated by it.
If you give meaningful gifts for Christmas, I love giving Christmas gifts.
In the gift giving department, I’m not motivated at all. As for the picture, I would say Amen! But he’s freaky, too.
If my previous comment was read and misunderstood,
“Shut it up.” is directed to the ugly Santa. Now I’ll shut it up!
Give it a rest, Scrooge.
I give because I have been given much — if I didn;t give, I’d bust.