It is a season of giving. Earlier and earlier, the stores and online shopping outlets advertise for “Holiday” gift shopping — Christmas, Chanukah, National 2nd-Cousin-Once-Removed-Day (I am being just a tad facetious). And haven’t you found that the Valley of the Virus has accentuated and sped up this encouragement to open your wallets and spend. The delight of meandering through stores to shop for just that right gift has been stripped away from most of us due to Covid. The lessening of gatherings has caused us to rely on online shopping and their free delivery to the recipient’s address, without us ever touching the present, only to be opened and shared on a FaceTime call. Shrewd — or just plain lucky — browsing can still result in just the right item. Squeals of delight can still be heard. But it is not the same.
My daughter-in law has had to find hiding places for my grandsons’ birthday gifts in September and November and my son’s 40th November birthday gift as well. And now, I’m sending her Advent Calendars to hide for December 1.
It has caused me to pause and ponder what the most special gift was that I have received on my time on this planet. And also the reason why we give gifts in the first place. What about you? How would you answer these questions?
The most special gift I have ever received began with the smell of Pine Sol, as I exhaustedly crawled up the steps leading from my garage into my house. My husband, fighting heart issues, had been in the hospital all week, and I was there with him most of each day, coming home only to sleep. My young son was staying with friends, hopefully bringing a modicum of normalcy to his life. It was January. My little Dept. 56 lighted villages filled my bay windows and tables, dark and collecting dust, and our freshly cut Christmas tree was no longer fresh, dropping needles all over the floor, its faded green branches unpleasant even with the beautiful ornaments hung on them.
As I opened the door, I was met with a sparkling clean, neat home, The villages and ornaments had been put away and the tree had been recycled. Four friends from my church had come into the house while I was at the hospital and cleaned it from top to bottom. I still fill up with tears as I remember that day. Amazon couldn’t have delivered it and my checkbook could not have paid for it. And I would’ve refused it, had I had even an inkling. But I could not have appreciated it more. I sat down and sobbed.
We give because He gave to us — His Love, the gift of Forgiveness, the gift of Salvation. We are loved so much that that love has to spill out of us to love and serve others. And sometimes that gift that we give others is letting them help us. Strong, independent people are loath to admit they need help, and even more resistant to receiving it, denying the giver the joy of giving.
Shiny bow or Pine Sol? What do you prefer?
Proverbs 3:27-28. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you
Judy Ferguson
