When John and Lisa Henderson grew weary of the poor behavior of their three boys, ages 5, 8, and 11, the couple decided upon a radical remedy...
They decided to “cancel” Christmas. No Santa. No stockings. No presents.
“We have not cancelled putting up decorations, celebrating the birth of our Savior, or any of our other heartwarming traditions,” Lisa explains in her recent blog post, which has gone viral and won the family an interview with “Good Morning America.”
But after months of working with their boys to help them curb a growing sense of entitlement and bad behavior, the parents decided to take the money they would have spent on presents and “put it towards service projects and giving gifts to others.”
Their goal? “Teach them giving rather than continuing to feed their desire for more.”
Lisa goes on to describe how the family of five has spent their time recently: organizing a clothing drive to benefit people in a Philippine village hit by Typhoon Haiyan; giving families Nativity sets; looking into participating in the Adopt a Grandparent program.
The boys cried when they learned of Christmas being “cancelled” – but as Lisa relates in an update to her original post, they have since reacted by “making gifts for each other… learning exactly what we wanted them to learn … thinking of others.”
This blog post has received a lot of attention. Some comments communicate a sense of outrage that these parents would “rob their children” with this “overboard” reaction.
Of course, the irony is that the Hendersons aren’t really cancelling Christmas at all. Rather, by reemphasizing the importance of expressing love to one another and exhibiting a spirit of radical generosity, this family is recapturing its true meaning. Christmas isn’t something you find under the tree in a colorfully wrapped box.
It’s good to let go of the superficial and false understanding of Christmas. Don’t miss passing on the wonder of the season to your children. There’s a marvelous mystery and intrigue to a God who sent His only Son to earth not as an earthly king robed in glory, but as a tiny baby born in a filthy manger to a poor unwed mother.
That’s the type of Christmas that can never be cancelled.
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excerpt from Daly Focus by Jim Daly of Focus on the Family click here to read entire blog
