The Gift

Do you enjoy shopping for Christmas gifts? Do you look for that one special item that will light up the receiver’s eyes? Or is trying to decide on purchases just plain stressful?

Regardless, giving feels good, doesn’t it? It’s fun to see the colorful packages under the tree. It’s entertaining watching children grow impatient with desire to rip away the wrapping, aching to discover what waits for them inside. It’s rewarding when loved one express that you found just the right thing for them.

We give gifts as an act of caring. It’s a way to show people they’re important to us.

I think sometimes we get so caught up in what can be placed in a box; we forget that some of the best gifts we can offer are impossible to wrap up with a bow.


You give a gift every time you:

Smile at a stranger

Take time to listen without an agenda or interrupting

Share a cup of coffee with a friend

Encourage someone who is going through tough times

Help your spouse with a chore without being asked

Read a story or play a game with a child

Feed the homeless

Invite friends into your home for a meal


The list could go on, because every time you give a piece of yourself to someone—whether it’s time, your talents, or just an empathetic word—you offer a gift. Even in small, simple ways, you let that person know you care.

And doesn’t everyone need to know they’re important?

God showed us how important we are to him by giving us the most wondrous gift of all. His Son. And Jesus wasn’t presented to us wrapped in glitter, gold, and satin. He came to us as a small babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

But what a gift!

Merry Christmas!
Dawn