The biggest shopping day of the year is coming up on Friday. Are you ready? Have you made your list...are you checking it twice? Many shoppers will be out early Friday morning or even late Thursday night hoping to find bargains and "the perfect gift" for everyone on their list.
Have you ever gotten a gift that left you disappointed or wasn't what you really wanted?
When I was little, I wanted a Barbie Dream House. It was a three story mansion with a pink elevator on the side that carried Barbie in style from one story to the next. Barbie's pink Corvette was parked in the garage. It was the Barbie house of my dreams..and I knew Santa was going to come through for me! I went to sleep on Christmas Eve dreaming of my Barbie Dream house. I ran in the living room on Christmas morning, knowing that my pink, three-story Barbie Dream House was waiting for me! Well, I got a Barbie house alright..but something was a little "off" with this Barbie House. First, I noticed it had two stories, not three. No elevator. No pink Corvette in the garage. Then I started noticing some "interesting" things about this Barbie house. It had shag carpet. The color scheme was not pink and purple like the Barbie Dream House...it was orange, and brown, and green. Something was "suspicious" about this Barbie House. Why did Barbie and her friends look so "groovy?" Because "Santa" had recycled my sister's Barbie Doll House...my sister who was 12 years older. I received the psychedelic Barbie house of 1970, not the Barbie Dream House of 1982! I wanted a three-story pink mansion and I got a sensible split level Brady Bunch house. I was disappointed. What can I say? It was the eighties...even Barbie was "living large"!
Another famous incident in my family involved a gift I received at church when I was little. You know how it goes. You draw names for the gift exchange.. Inevitably, you bring some kid a race car or a baby doll and you get a pack of crayons in return. Well, I did get a baby doll that year....a ONE-EYED baby doll. I'm serious. The doll had one eye. I was so mad.My sister and older cousins added insult to injury the rest of the evening by saying, "Hey! Leigh-Ann, look at me!" and they would have one eye open and one eye closed. Then they started walking around winking at me. I was livid. Now, I had baby dolls at home and plenty of other toys, probably too many. That wasn't the point. I was upset because it was obvious the person had not put any time or consideration into my gift, because if they had, they would have noticed that the doll only had ONE EYE! It makes me laugh now, but for years in my childhood, my sister could give me the ole "one-eye" look and get me riled up again!
Then, there are those times that you get "the perfect" gift or the gift that makes you cry because it lets you know how much that person thought of you. The best gift I ever received was my mother's ring. I wear it every day. Its rare that you will see me without it on my hand. Its special. It represents the three most important people in my life! It was given to me on the day my son was born. I was told, "Matthew has something to give you". I was then handed my baby and the ring was on two of his fingers. It has my three children's names engraved and each of their birthstones. That took a lot of forethought and planning to have it there at the hospital with us. That made it really special.
This year, I got some special gifts on my birthday. They weren't expensive, but they meant so much to me that they made me cry. I had been dreading my birthday...a lot. I came home one evening a couple of days before my birthday and my favorite flower in my favorite color was sitting on my porch. I had already seen one like it at the florist and thought to myself "Wow. That's beautiful. I wish someone would give me one like it!" Isn't God good? He knows when we need a little encouragement! There is nothing that I would have liked any more.
The day of my birthday was a Monday this year. My children do not stay with me on Monday nights, so it wasn't exactly a "festive birthday". I got home late that night and found gifts and cards on my steps and had messages on my answering machine from my nieces and nephews and other special people. It meant so much to me that they thought of me and left me those messages that it made me cry. It was the thought behind it that meant so much.
The Bible tells us that we have all received the perfect Gift. God gave us His son. "For God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." God thought so much of us, loved us so much, that he gave us His only Son. I like to give people gifts that they will like or enjoy...but I won't give you my children. You can't have them. I don't love you that much...sorry.
Jesus paid a tremendous price to give you the gift of eternal life. Its already been paid for, all you have to do is accept the gift. If you have already received the gift of salvation, what are you giving back in return? God has given each of us gifts and talents, skills and abilities. Are you thanking Him for your gifts by using them for Him or to bless others?
James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift comes from God! As you prepare for the Christmas season and as you are giving thanks during Thanksgiving this week, be thankful for the best gift you have ever received..the gift of God's Son. Find a way to give thanks and to give back for the gifts you have received.
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