The Cost of Christmas????

The Savannah Morning News had an interesting article in the Exchange section today. It seems that someone with more time than the average person calculates the cost of buying the items named off in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" every year. The cost for this year is up less than one percent from last year, once you balance in the rapid rise of the cost of 5 gold rings and the falling prices of partridges, pear trees, geese-a-laying and swans-a -swimming. The costs are, as follows for 2009:

• one partridge $10.00
• one pear tree $149.00 (don't these people know you can get them for about $20 at WalMart or Home Depot???)
  
• Two turtle doves $55.98
• Three French Hens $45.00
• Four Calling Birds $599.96 (must be loud!)
• Five Gold Rings $499.95
• Six Geese-a-laying $150.00 (that is $25 each, cheaper than turkey this time of year. Christmas goose anyone?)
• Seven swans-a-swimming  $5, 250.00 (I SHOULDA JACKED SOME FROM THAT PARK IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON MEMORIAL DAY! I COULDA BEEN RICH!!!!!!!!!! WHO KNEW??????????)
• Eight maids-a-milking $58.00 (hmmmm.....cheap labor.....)
• Nine ladies dancing $5,473.07 ( WOW the milk maids should take dance lessons for more career opportunities!) *this price rose 15% from last year
  
• Ten lords-a-leaping $4,413.61 ( ok, so you get an extra guy jumping around for over a thousand bucks less than the girls dancing, and this price did not increase or fall from last year. Must not be much use for dudes leaping)
• Eleven pipers piping $2,284.80  *see below
  
• Twelve drummers drumming $2,475.20  (the cost per piper/drummer is just over $200 each, a value that may have many parents rethinking band instrument lessons next year)

The total cost of these items is $87,403.00
Seems a lot for some birds and people jumping around singing and dancing to me.

So what is the real cost of Christmas?
Is there a way to put a value on the real Christmas?
How much would it cost for a baby to be born that would one day save the entire world from it's sin and shame?
According to www.costhelper.com, in 2009 the birth of a child costs anywhere from $9,000-$25,000. This figure would vary depending on insurance,  whether it is a vaginal or cesarean birth, complications, and geographic location.

Over 2,000 years ago God paid for Christmas with the birth of His only Son Jesus, knowing full well that His Son would die for us on the cross at Calvary.

That is the ultimate cost of Christmas.
How will you thank Him this year?
Kind of makes 5 gold rings, Wii systems , and Plasma TVs look kinda silly huh?