Skip to main content

The Perfect Gift...For Me


Have you ever thought about the perfect gift for that special someone you love? You know, the person you hold most dear? That person that you spend hours just wondering what the absolutely best gift could possibly be? And, of course, I’m talking about me.

I’ve wondered about what I would gift to myself. This is despite childhood training that runs in the opposite direction. See, growing up in my family, gifts only happened on 2 occasions. Christmas and birthdays. This worked out alright for me because my birthday is in June. So I was showered with gifts every 6 months. But one of my sisters has a birthday 4 days before Christmas. (Read: short end of the stick.)

If it wasn’t Christmas and it wasn’t our birthday, our days were marked with rations and needs, but not gifts. Long, arduous days until the next season of gifts appeared. (When you read this, Mom, I’m kidding.) But seriously, we were raised that gifts were for special occasions. You shopped for the other members of your family and depended on their memory to receive what you wanted.

So what would I give myself? I could list the myriad of tech gadgets that would be fun to play with, since I’ll readily admit the truth of the difference between men and boys. It is the price of their toys, although have you tried shopping for young boys these days? It’s not cheap.

I’ve thought this idea through. If I’m going to get myself something, it’s going to be something that someone else wouldn’t get me, no matter how many hints I drop. More than that, I think it should be the thing that only I can get, something only I know how much I need.

So what am I getting this year for myself? It’s a better perspective. It’s the idea that this Christmas season will only last about 30 days, despite the Christmas décor that retailers put out before Halloween. Since the season has a Reason, I will be sure to enjoy the calm and the chaos that comes this month.

No matter how many versions of The 12 days of Christmas drone on the airwaves over and over again, I will keep in mind the Reason we have to sing about this season.

No matter how crowded the stores become, especially when I shop with 2 days left, I will enjoy the time spent with family and friends, no matter. I will not lose the perspective of why I look for and give gifts, because there was One who gave to me.

Because, when the presents are all opened, some are exchanged and a week later when others are forgotten, the Reason will remain. And once I have this perspective in my mind, it’s one I can keep the entire year. Indeed, Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving.

What gift would you like to get yourself this Christmas?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl
Post a Comment
Read more

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a
Post a Comment
Read more

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d
Post a Comment
Read more