My Husband Is a Scrooge | When $ Is An Issue At Christmas



Confession: Grampa Tom is a Scrooge. OK, I can't blame him. He grew up in a large farm family. My father-in-love was a fantastic worker but had no business sense. They lived hand to mouth and every penny earned from the farm usually went out the door as soon as it came in at harvest. By December, money was always tight and the pressure to provide gifts for 9 kids always caused a lot of fights between his parents. Not only that, but many of those kids had December birthdays. Christmas for my husband was always a time of great stress. On the contrary, Christmas in my family was always a joyous occasion that my upper-middle-class parents were comfortably able to afford. My expectations and my husband's dread of the season created some stress between us in the beginning, but when we went through the farm depression of the early 80s, things got serious. My overwhelming desire to give came into full clash with his insistence that we absolutely could not afford Christmas.

I had a choice. Would I insist on running up our already out of control debt, or submit to his leadership in this area? Because I believed the Bible, I chose to submit. But I also believed my great desire to give was of God. So, I asked Him to show me how I could give without money. God is faithful! He gave me so many creative ways to come up with presents that cost little or no money! I made wreaths with grapevines and corn stalks, hot pads from fabric scraps, homemade ornaments ... the list goes on and on. Not only that, but my children got in on the creativity and giving spirit!

Don't let finances keep you from giving, but don't let giving create debt either! The strain on your marriage isn't worth it!

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