And let the shopping begin! After all “’tis the season for buying,” isn’t it? By all indications, Black Friday was a huge success and a good indicator that the economy is starting to turn around as people are spending more this year than they spent last year. Just wish the job indicators would start to show an increase in employment. Now, about this shopping thing … I hate to shop, but I do like hunting for the right gift for the right person. Nothing gives me greater joy than to make the special purchase, wrap it up and wait for the joy of their discovery come Christmas morning. It is just the kid in me. And, if the truth were known, I’ve often stated that I would rather be given twenty-five $1 gifts instead of one $25 gift – again, the kid in me. Further, I have also been known to head off to the mall on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, even though I had nothing that I needed to purchase, just to walk among the crowd. There is something special that takes place during this season and I don’t want to miss it.
I would also have to admit that there is a lot of needless buying of stuff that is not needed with money that people don’t have. I was behind one woman at a Wal-Mart a number of years ago. Her cart was piled high with “stuff,” but what amazed me was that she had to go through about 15 different credit cards before she could find one that wasn’t maxed out. Then I looked at what she was purchasing and the thought did cross my mind that most of the toys would probably be broken or discarded within a week. That is crazy, but people do that every year.
The idea of exchanging gifts can also be a little misguided as in “buying something for someone simply because you know that they are going to buy you something and you don’t want to be embarrassed.” Some years ago my dear wife gave a long time friend a Lenox angel pin as away of saying “thank you for your friendship.” Instead of just receiving it as a kind gesture, she sent two of her daughters to a back room to hurriedly wrap a gift for us. Oh, what foolishness this gift giving creates in all of us. As stated earlier I like giving and receiving, but there are those certain times that we would much rather give a gift than to receive one.
“For a child has been born - for us! the gift of a son - for us! He'll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness.” (Isaiah 9:6 – The Message) Within the madness of the shopping, running here and there, searching for the “perfect” gift for someone special and spending more than we really can afford – within this special season may we not lose sight of the perfect gift given by the perfect gift giver … a baby, who was simply wrapped in swaddling clothes … not placed under a decorated Christmas tree, but in a feeding trough for animals … a simple gift … a gesture of grace … an act of love … nothing more, but nothing less. God had been planning on this gift since the beginning of time. “But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.” (Galatians 4:4 – The Message).
Go ahead and shop-until-you-drop because the people you are buying for are probably well worth the effort, the thought and the expense – I know mine are. Wrap the purchases with much care and then sit back and wait with tremendous expectation for that special moment when they make the gleeful discovery of your extraordinary gift. It will be okay to cry a little – I know that I have – then share a hug and experience the love. And the God in heaven will join in the laughter and joy of the moment, because in someway at that very moment somehow we will have shared the identical feelings that God had when to those two young teenagers, Mary and Joseph, the cry of a baby was heard in Bethlehem and his gift, his exceptional gift had been received on earth by all of us.
Quote for today: A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver. Thomas A Kempis
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