I guess it was around 1975 when I got “the raise.”  There was never confusion about Christmas in the Mullins/Mason group of families.  In that holler in Rockcastle County, KY, Jesus was (and is) the reason for the Season.  He was (and is) the center of the celebration and the focus of all events that occurred, including gift giving and receiving.

Funds were always tight growing up and I had run on a strict Christmas gift budget of $5 for gifts for the 10 members of my family who gathered in that little green house for all of my young life.  The $5 generously given to me by my parents, who were fiscal marvels.  Then around 1975 my budget was doubled.  $10!  Unimaginable wealth to illustrate my love for each family member by lavishing on them gifts too marvelous to have comprehended a year before.

I recall that ‘the raise’ also involved my doing all of my Christmas shopping at Hiatt’s 5&10 that year, with my sisters also doing their shopping at the same time.  The temptation to peak at what was being purchased by my sisters almost paralyzing my own shopping responsibilities.   But, I soldiered on!  I am guessing we shopped in Mt. Vernon that year because of a space issue in the car, preventing gifts from being purchased ahead of time.  Regardless, marvelous!  Hiatt’s was the preferred shopping destination of any Appalachian buyer with the financial capacity that I had that year.  $10 equivalent to $65 today.  Boy, was my family lucky for the wonderful things they would be gifted this special year.

To fully appreciate a shopping experience at Hiatt’s, you have to understand what it took to simply navigate entering the store.  East Main Street in My. Vernon, KY, “fell off” a little as it passed Hiatt’s, causing a leveled store to have much higher point above the ground on the left as you faced the store, versus the right closer to street level.  Now Hiatt’s was built in a time period when building codes did not dictate 5.5” steps, so a left leaning entry into the store meant steps literally 12”-15” high (or so it seemed to a little boy) and ‘normal’ step height to the right.  Now herein lay the problem.  The men of Mt. Vernon, charged with holding court on East Main Street, would often sit to the right of Hiatt’s entrance, making those more navigable steps unavailable and if you did decide to try and use them, you were likely tasked with dodging the chewing tobacco residue deposited by these fine gentlemen.

But, the climbing of the cliff to enter Hiatt’s was worth the effort.  A mastery of merchandising awaited with finely folded linens, bulk candy as far as the eye could see (well 10’ anyway).  Toys, toys and more toys.  Skillets.  Fabric and patterns for sewers.  Creaking wood floors accessorized by kind clerks ready to help a young buyer committed to life-altering purchase decisions.  So off we went.  Bulk candy, comic books, army man with plastic parachute, L’eggs brand pantyhose (clever packaging), harmonica, measuring cups.  Gifts made marvelous by a genuine desire to give.  To attempt to full express love and joy through .50 cents per recipient.  Gifts made priceless because of the precious relationship between the giver and the recipient.

The truth is I have no idea what I bought for any of the 10 relatives that Christmas.  But I can tell you each of their names and their unique contribution to the whole.  I can tell you without hesitation of my love for them and their impact on my life.  I can tell you that they invested in me as a young boy and throughout my life, some to this day and others until Jesus called them home to Heaven.  I can tell you that whether $10 or $10,000, the joy, the love, the warmth, the laughter, the time, such precious time, would have been the same regardless of the gifts values.

This Christmas, I pray that your budget is tight and your time loose.  I pray that you are overwhelmed with the understanding that Christ came down at Christmas.  That Jesus IS the reason for the Season.  I pray that you are profoundly troubled to ask and ensure that those you love most will be joining you in Heaven when this life is over.  I pray that peace invades your days this Christmas Season in ways that simply don’t make sense, with a priority that pushes all things pressing in to the side.  I pray that the Season of Christmas is your greatest gift.  I pray that you don’t buy into the lie that a Lexus at Christmas is joy.  The payments show up in January!

Love came down at Christmas.  His name is Jesus.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)