Tonight at the dinner table, we played "If you had $1000 to spend on each person's Christmas gift, what would you buy?"
Here are some highlights...
Philip announced that he would purchase all six kids lifetime hunting/fishing licenses. And with the leftover money he and I would cruise to Alaska...literally.
Most popular gift ideas were iPads, bikes, and new teeth for Philip (he has recently come to grips with the grim state of his dental health.
Ardyn would treat me to a BUNCH of spa treatments. I'll be well-groomed and relaxed on my Alaskan cruise:)
When Mari beamed that she would buy Ashlin a Barbie, Ashli grunted back, "anything else??"
Personally, I would pool the little girl's money and install a cool playground. I would give Landen a 6 month voucher for auto insurance...actually 4 months might soak up his grand. I would honor Philip's wishes to send his allotment straight to the dentist. Since we're just dreaming, I went ahead and let Luke have a snazzy cellular device. And for Ardyn...a shopping spree. And by "spree" we mean a couple stores in less than two hours...for Ardyn, a true spree would cost considerably more than $1000.
For his dad, Luke would buy great tickets to a Rangers game. (sweet!) He would get Ardyn a digital camera, and he offered his brother a "75 ft, cant-see-you-from-the-outside, 75 degree Fahrenheit, hog-proof deer stand". obie-kabie.
Back to the real world.
It was great fun to dream with generosity. Honestly, it was hard to keep my fun from being slightly tainted by the very sad realization that even if we all pooled our imaginary funds, we couldn't pay for all the dental work Philip needs - AFTER insurance. sheesh.
Thank You, Lord, for giving good gifts to Your children. Thank You for helping us be generous in our hearts and imaginations. Please help us carry out comparable generosity in real time with our real money. Thank You for caring for us in every little detail of our lives. Praise You!
