Keeping Christmas Humble

Rather than dread the effect of a bad economy on Christmas in our home, I have enjoyed it. Something remarkable has happened due to the reduced income we are all experiencing. Even though there are fewer gifts under the tree, the quality of those gifts has been impressive.

I'm not complaining about gifts I've received in the past. It's just better now that people have to think more about what gifts to give. That careful thought has made each gift very meaningful and has made the past couple of Christmases very sweet.

Some of my favorite gifts over the years were the ornaments my sister made. I love those ornaments so much that I place each of them carefully on the tree and my kids (even now that they're grown up) know not to touch them. These aren't fancy or expensive ornaments. They just have incredible sentimental value.

A couple of years ago, my husband paid attention to comments I made about wishing I had a really nice photo of my puppy. While I was at work, he set up a photo location in our house and took a series of photos of Shadow, my beagle. On Christmas morning, I was thrilled to receive a framed photo of Shadow.

This year, I worked hard to surprise my husband. He is a teacher at a local high school and absolutely loves working there. When we were college students, we paid a friend to make a beaded version of the school mascot.  I was determined to make him a beaded version of the high school logo. This was no easy thing since we were both at home at the same time. I didn't want to use his beading supplies since that might tip him off. After ordering beads and needles, I got right to work on beading.  It was a lot tougher than I had imagined. The work wasn't done until midnight Christmas Eve. It was far from perfect - they don't call me Spirit Bead for nothing - but it was a good effort and he loved it.

I'm sure we would all love to have more money to work with, but I am very grateful for times like these that keep us humble. What gift touched your heart this year?