With all the commercialization of Christmas and shifting of focus from the birth of Jesus to partying and shopping, it is heartwarming to hear that one Hollywood celebrity is standing firm in her convictions.
Patricia Heaton said that her children will not be getting Christmas gifts from her this year. And even though they are all grown-up now, she says she is doing this to focus on the real reason for the season.
Patricia Heaton is famous for her hit TV shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle, and is playing the lead role on the show Carol’s Second Act, and now she is taking a stand on her faith.
She and her husband, David Hunt, have 4 boys, David, John, Joseph, and Daniel and giving gifts have been part of the Christmas tradition just like many families. “Ultimately, Christmas is never about the gifts,” Patricia said. “It’s about family being together and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.”
Now as her sons are grown, Patricia Heaton wants to focus on the things that really matter. “It’s easy to get caught up in the commercialism of it all,” she said. “Actually, this is the first year where I’ve told everyone I’m not buying. My boys are all in their 20s, and so I said to my husband after last year that I realized that I get so cranky during the Christmas season. This whole gift thing and it’s just making me anxious and cranky. I just don’t want the holidays to be about that.”
“I think a lot of moms and parents get anxious about gifts, and things like that make the holidays stressful and I think we need to work toward making it just about our family being together,” she added.
She says, her faith comes even before her success and wants to use her celebrity platform to honor God. Patricia has partnered with World Vision, a Christian humanitarian global organisation, on various projects and also has a special collection of home goods, the Opportunity Collection, which she offers through World Vision. The sale proceeds goes to benefit families in poverty or towards funds for disaster relief.
Patricia Heaton’s father set the example for doing charity for her family, “He was a guy who was very nervous about money and he had five kids. He was paying tuition for Catholic education and yet he made sure he still sent money to various charities,” Patricia said.
She added, “He never talked about it, but I saw him do that every month. So that made an impression on me.” Her Hollywood career has been extremely successful and she is setting an example for her children to follow.
She says, “Jesus said, ‘to whom much is given much is expected.’ So I think it’s very important that we do that, but you want to be responsible in how you give and who you give to,” she said.
Patricia Heaton is setting a new trend in Hollywood by shifting focus from all the festivities to the reason for the season: Jesus Christ, we pray and hope that many other celebrities too would change that and impact millions of their fans all over the world with their stand on their faith.