"Practical" Gifts
Every morning when I get dressed, I open up my clothes drawer and grab a set of uniquely designed Gap boxers and get ready. I didn't pay for a single pair of these... like many of you, I received them from my mom as Christmas gifts. Every year... and I'll get a restock this year as well.
I'm sure that most of you get some kind of "practical" gift every year from your mom (I've confirmed that my mom is part of a collective practical-gifter club that gives socks, underwear, etc. every year for Christmas). And like many of you, I try to act emotionally up for the yearly "surprise" but I just don't feel it. Do I hear an amen?
However, every morning I would be lost without these gifts. I wear them almost every day.
Several (I couldn't tell you how many) months ago, an old girlfriend surprised me one day buying me a few ice cube trays to put in my freezer. Yes - I don't have an icemaker in my freezer and didn't have any cube trays. I didn't really miss it in those five years... I just adjusted. If I was going to drink anything in my house, it was going to be pre-chilled, or if I needed ice for a party I would buy a 10 pound bag ahead of the party or ask one of the guys to bring one. So, at the moment when I got the "hey, you can now make ice" present (highly practical), I tried my best to create some enthusiasm because I valued her, but I wasn't really getting goosebumps over ice cube trays.
Get to know me well, and you'll figure out that I like gifts that carry significant emotional value and don't really get excited about practical gifts. One of the best gifts I've ever gotten was the smell of perfume in a card I received during a long school semester. Not practical at all, but it got my emotional juices going. I love getting gifts that speak to my heart. I'm kind of weird that way.
However, funny thing is... today when I have no chilled drinks in my house, I can drop a couple of ice cubes in a glass and enjoy a cold drink. This otherwise small gift, and the giver as a result, has made my life better as a result of $2 of plastic in a freezer....
But that perfumed card... it's decaying in a landfill somewhere, or recycled. I'm not sure. I threw it out several years ago.
Given that it's a season to give thanks... come to think of it when was the last time we (or I) really thanked God for the practical gifts He gives? The ones that sustain our lives but we don't really think too much about when we're receiving them.
I mean, me being the "emotional" (Hey - I know you're thinking of me and this is special for you) gift guy, I get pretty excited when God gives me a "WOW!" gift... a girl I ask out who I think is out of my league says "yes" to a date, a career opportunity I pray about opens up for me, I get the opportunity to go on a once in a lifetime mission trip or ministry opportunity, an Aggie victory over the football team most likely to whup Notre Dame for the National Championship... you know what those gifts are. I get really excited about that stuff (especially that "W" over Bama... I won't lie :) )!
And believe me they get that "Wow! You're awesome!!!" response.
But that "daily bread" stuff that God gives constantly. Having my needs met, the little things He shows me in my quiet times, the peace of knowing that He loves me and has given me friends, family, a roof over my head, a life in a rich nation where I don't fear persecution for being a follower of Jesus... you know, all of the practical stuff.
That's the stuff God provides that really sustains me. It's, in a way, the most "real" way that He shows me His love.
I treat those gifts emotionally like the boxers for Christmas, but like the boxers for Christmas I couldn't live without it.
Perhaps, in this season I (and perhaps more of us) should realign my heart to view God's practical gifts as the huge thing they are and not take them for granted. God has provided so much... so much we don't really give Him credit for, and perhaps it's time that we reorient mine and our thankfulness meter to be emotionally charged by this overwhelming generosity as well.
Because we are so blessed... and perhaps the little "practical things" aren't so little after all.
Spoken from a recovering gratitude-deficient practical gift receiver.
Don't worry, I'm still probably not going to give anyone a toaster for Christmas. :-)
I'm sure that most of you get some kind of "practical" gift every year from your mom (I've confirmed that my mom is part of a collective practical-gifter club that gives socks, underwear, etc. every year for Christmas). And like many of you, I try to act emotionally up for the yearly "surprise" but I just don't feel it. Do I hear an amen?
However, every morning I would be lost without these gifts. I wear them almost every day.
Several (I couldn't tell you how many) months ago, an old girlfriend surprised me one day buying me a few ice cube trays to put in my freezer. Yes - I don't have an icemaker in my freezer and didn't have any cube trays. I didn't really miss it in those five years... I just adjusted. If I was going to drink anything in my house, it was going to be pre-chilled, or if I needed ice for a party I would buy a 10 pound bag ahead of the party or ask one of the guys to bring one. So, at the moment when I got the "hey, you can now make ice" present (highly practical), I tried my best to create some enthusiasm because I valued her, but I wasn't really getting goosebumps over ice cube trays.
Get to know me well, and you'll figure out that I like gifts that carry significant emotional value and don't really get excited about practical gifts. One of the best gifts I've ever gotten was the smell of perfume in a card I received during a long school semester. Not practical at all, but it got my emotional juices going. I love getting gifts that speak to my heart. I'm kind of weird that way.
However, funny thing is... today when I have no chilled drinks in my house, I can drop a couple of ice cubes in a glass and enjoy a cold drink. This otherwise small gift, and the giver as a result, has made my life better as a result of $2 of plastic in a freezer....
But that perfumed card... it's decaying in a landfill somewhere, or recycled. I'm not sure. I threw it out several years ago.
Given that it's a season to give thanks... come to think of it when was the last time we (or I) really thanked God for the practical gifts He gives? The ones that sustain our lives but we don't really think too much about when we're receiving them.
I mean, me being the "emotional" (Hey - I know you're thinking of me and this is special for you) gift guy, I get pretty excited when God gives me a "WOW!" gift... a girl I ask out who I think is out of my league says "yes" to a date, a career opportunity I pray about opens up for me, I get the opportunity to go on a once in a lifetime mission trip or ministry opportunity, an Aggie victory over the football team most likely to whup Notre Dame for the National Championship... you know what those gifts are. I get really excited about that stuff (especially that "W" over Bama... I won't lie :) )!
And believe me they get that "Wow! You're awesome!!!" response.
But that "daily bread" stuff that God gives constantly. Having my needs met, the little things He shows me in my quiet times, the peace of knowing that He loves me and has given me friends, family, a roof over my head, a life in a rich nation where I don't fear persecution for being a follower of Jesus... you know, all of the practical stuff.
That's the stuff God provides that really sustains me. It's, in a way, the most "real" way that He shows me His love.
I treat those gifts emotionally like the boxers for Christmas, but like the boxers for Christmas I couldn't live without it.
Perhaps, in this season I (and perhaps more of us) should realign my heart to view God's practical gifts as the huge thing they are and not take them for granted. God has provided so much... so much we don't really give Him credit for, and perhaps it's time that we reorient mine and our thankfulness meter to be emotionally charged by this overwhelming generosity as well.
Because we are so blessed... and perhaps the little "practical things" aren't so little after all.
Spoken from a recovering gratitude-deficient practical gift receiver.
Don't worry, I'm still probably not going to give anyone a toaster for Christmas. :-)
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