Jesus' Birth.. Modernized Version, retold by ME~

As most of you know, I LOVE to shop! I must admit, shopping splurges are not as frequent as they used to be but they still happen!

As I rushed out early on Black Friday morning, I thought to myself, "How many of these people out here know the real meaning of Christmas"..

If we don't know the true meaning do our children really understand? I was talking to my daughter about Christmas and she asked, "Mommy, if its Jesus' birthday, why don't he get gifts"? I sat there and gave her the blank stare.. I had to make this sory come alive to her. So, I thought of what we enjoy doing MOST, "shopping" and used it as my way of bringing Jesus' birth to life..

Please, do NOT judge my retelling, I did what worked for my daughter and I..

We arrived at Perimeter Mall. One of our newest fave malls in Ga.. I had already told Li, we have a budget and we must stay within that range.. She responded, "I know mommy, you have to pay bills".. I smiled to myself, she's way older than a 6 year old and she understands.. I try my best to keep our life real in her eyes.

So, we started out in Nordstrom.. She saw boots that she liked for me and said, "Mommy, I want to buy you these".. I said really, let's see how much they are. We looked on the bottom and it said 628.00! I said, " whew, Li these are out of our range".. The look of excitement on her face changed, she was sad.. I was sad, and thought to myself, this is how Mary felt.. So, I say Li, you know the same way everything is expensive in this store, this is how Jesus' mom felt when it was time to have him. She asked,"how mommy"?
Every place turned his mommy and daddy away because they couldn't afford it.. Wow mommy, but it was Jesus, wasn't his parents rich? Not at all sweetie.. We continued thru out the mall, we passed Macy's, she asked could they afford this store? Nope, and we walked away..
We passed GAP and I shook my head no, we passed Children's Place and I shook my head no, we passed Stride Rite and I shook my head no.. There was one last place I knew we could go.. We left the mall empty handed and headed to the car.. She said, "mommy we have nothing, I told her I know but we have one last place we could go too".. We arrived at the Goodwill.. She looked at me and we walked inside. The first thing she noticed was the smell. She said "Mommy, Jesus was born in a place that smelled like this"? I responded, baby it smelled worse.. While the goodwill has very nice things( not my choice of places to shop) its second hand stuff.. It reminded me of the stable where he was born.. All types of animals lived there.. Just like the Goodwill, all types of people donate and shop there.

I explained, this was the only place that Jesus' mommy and daddy could afford to stay.. So, they took some of these nice covers that people didn't want in their houses anymore and they made a comfy space.. Like, what I use when I camp out in the living room? Yes, Li just liked that!!

Wow, mommy! I'm sad that is mommy and daddy didn't have money to have him somewhere nice.. I agreed but also told her, but bc he WAS born, we now have the choice to go to all those stores we couldn't afford.. Really mommy? Really Li, Jesus' birth is the reason we live a comfortable life...

She picked up a few books in the Goodwill and we paid for them.. We exited holding hands.. And she said, mommy I'm going to wrap these gifts for baby Jesus'.. A warm feeling overtook my body, she understands.. My baby understands!!

While we"re out trying to buy them the world, let's remember, its the simple things that matter most..

Enjoy the season, but do NOT forget that baby Jesus is the reason for the Season!!