So what did YOU get for Christmas?
Yes, yes, I know. It’s not all about the gifts. But you have to admit, it’s fun to open something that’s been picked out just for you. So what did you get?
My daughter got me the chicken-shaped kitchen timer that I’ve been wanting for years. It’s ticking on the stove right now. My older son picked out one of Mrs. Munger’s special spoon bracelets that I now wear regularly, and little Jonah decorated a canvas tote bag to help me carry my books to school.
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But it was my husband who really scored big. Bless his heart, he surprised me with a totally sweet 20-volt compact lithium-ion DeWalt cordless drill with spare battery and carrying bag, a serious upgrade from my old dying 12-volt. I spent a good chunk of Christmas vacation carrying my new toy around, occasionally making rrrnn, rrrrrrnn noises with it and looking high and low for something to fix. I just couldn’t wait to use it.
I think one of the most fun parts of Christmas gifting is finding ways to add the gifts you’ve been given to your everyday life. I’m eager to enjoy the candles, dry erase markers and homemade salsa my sweet students gave me. And the book from my mom-in-law is already getting dogeared. That is, after all, what those gifts are for...to be appreciated - yes, but even more than that, to be put to use.
My youngest excels at putting his gifts to use. He’s already got his books read, his wall clings clung, and his new arrows lost in the back yard. His Star Wars Lego kits weren’t unwrapped a full hour before the starships were put together, Luke Skywalker’s tiny light saber blazing as he was flown around the kitchen with full sound effects.
At first I wanted to hold my son back, to encourage him to save some of the fun for later. But then I looked at his smile. Watching my blondie play so joyously, I was filled with the warm satisfaction of knowing that I had chosen well. He loved what I had given him. He was using it, making it his own, just the way I had wanted him to.
That’s why gifts are given, after all. They are are meant to be used.
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At Christmas we are given a gift. A Son, carefully wrapped in hay, presented to us by our loving Father. Picked out specially, just for us.
And gifts are meant to be used.
It’s tempting to leave Jesus in the manger, bundled up and cooing softly at His mother. But...wouldn’t that be like leaving all the Legos in the box? What silliness that would be. We have been given this amazing gift. The gift to top all gifts that ever were. The be-all and end-all in the realm of giftingness. We have been given, each and every one of us, The Most Awesome Present In The History of the Universe. My Jonah can tell you what to do with such a gift…you tear into that sucker and use it for all it’s worth.
We have forgiveness, right here in our laps; let’s live as people who are forgiven, and who know how to forgive. We have hope, the hope that is far above the everything’s-going-to-be-all-right platitudes the world can offer; let’s keep our hearts so focused on that hope that people wonder what we’re so dang happy about. We have a Life laid down for ours, a punishment taken in our place; let’s confuse the neighbors with joyful servanthood. We have the peace that passes all understanding; let’s clench that peace in our fists and let it carry us through the trials of life, through the places where we do not wish to go, with steady hearts and clear eyes that make no sense apart from the love of Him who gifts us, day upon day upon day, with all that we need in this body and life, and on top of that with the life and death of that little child in the manger, the most perfect gift of all.
Gifts are meant to be used. Use them. Go read a Good Book. Go look for something to fix. Go light a candle in the darkness. It’s all for you. Unwrap it. Cherish it. And then scoop it up and go play.
First published in The Alpena News, January 10, 2015
