Tuesday, December 6, 2011

A Christmas Letter with Neon Lights and Just a Little Sarcasm!

The other day when my wife and I were putting together our Christmas letter, we began to joke about the clumsy moments our family had over the past year. I know what we are supposed to write. If we base our letter on the more common one's seen at Christmas we would write about how our son was a State Champion baseball player and how he is being looked at by Michigan State while our daughter is getting a full-ride scholarship to Oxford University. For one, that would be lying. For two, even if it were true, what would be the purpose in including that information except to make ourselves look like really good parents? Truth is we were imaging what the responses would be when our friends opened up the letter only to find us being brutally honest about some of the frustrations and mess-ups we experienced. Needless to say, we laughed hard for about an hour imaging the looks on the faces of friends and family as they would certainly be in shock.

Even though there is nothing wrong with being happy for those who succeed, often I find Christmas letters to be lacking one of the most important items -- Character! I wonder what would happen if I wrote down two lists, the first being a list of friends and family telling about all their childrens accomplishments, and second being a list of ways they showed love, mercy, encouragement, kindness and joy to others, which list would be bigger? I have no doubt the first list would be the size of a skyscraper while the second list would be about the size of a paragraph.

I know very few people who would say accomplishments and success are more important than character. However, too often our communication says otherwise. I think of a family who lost their 10 year old son to a brain tumor. What will they say? My wife, Becky, is in remission from a type of cancer the doctor said many years ago would never reach such a state. It gives us great things to write about. We are very thankful. However, it was not the case seven years ago when she was going through chemotherapy. Yes, we still wrote a Christmas letter, but it was challenging trying to match up with the incredible stories of how people were walking on water and going to the moon.

My son has autism. He will never be a scholar. He will never play on a sports team. Yet, he has a big heart for people. He has a friend in a wheelchair who moved to Wisconsin a year ago, but still talks about him every day. When the day seems dull and boring, he will break out in laughter and say something that will cause a room filled with people to experience joy in a way they never have before.

At the risk of sounding like I am condeming those who talk about grade points and athletic championships, I really am not. I only suggest the thrust of a Christmas letter contain more weight in describing the character of each person, their heart and their passion.

God Bless all and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!