What’s on your Christmas list—not what you hope to get, but what you’re planning to give? Do you have a special plan for a special someone? Is Amazon Prime your very special friend and partner in your giving? Is there going to be a kiss that begins with Kay?
Here’s another question: Do you feel pressure to give the perfect gift?
My first Christmas with Mrs. Sweetie was 1984. We had moved to Ft. Worth in August. She was teaching first grade at Walnut Creek Elementary in Azle. I was a full-time student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and part-time Minister of Music and Youth at Eagle Mountain Baptist Church (as if there is really such thing as part-time ministry).
We decided to do our Christmas shopping for each other at Northeast Mall. Upon arrival at the mall, we agreed on a meeting spot and went our separate ways for an hour of shopping.
It was an absolutely miserable hour for me! Not because I’m a guy and I was shopping, but because of the incredible pressure I felt to get the perfect gift for my new bride. At the end of that hour, I was a basket case because I already felt like a failure as a husband.
Fast forward thirty-five years and she still likes me a lot, so I guess I’m not a failure. I also have not always presented her with perfect Christmas gifts. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever presented her with a perfect Christmas gift. I discovered early on—maybe as early as that first Christmas—that what she really wanted was the best of me. That is something I can deliver every day if I’m intentional about it.
This year, I’ve been blessed to be the guest soloist and narrator for “A Salute to Christmas” at the First Baptist Church of Decatur. As I sat in the parking lot after the Saturday afternoon performance, I reflected on what is so very special about these church Christmas productions.
It’s the teamwork. It’s a lot of people—some of whom will never appear on the stage—giving their very best to tell the most wonderful story ever told. It’s regular people who sing, dance, act, sew costumes, build sets, run lights and sound, hand out programs, prepare snacks … the list goes on and on.
None of these productions is perfect. Few of the participants are “professional” performers. Each person is just asked to give their best so that the whole group can succeed in giving a special gift to the community.
And in so doing, they are giving a gift to the greatest Giver.
Christina Rosetti (1830-1894) wrote the Christmas hymn, “In the Bleak Midwinter.” The last stanza is a wonderful expression of what I’m trying to say today.
“What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part. Yet what can I give Him? Give my heart.”
There is no better way to celebrate how much your life matters to God than to simply give Him the best of you, starting with your heart.
Below you will find a video I recorded a year ago some similar thoughts and a recording of “In the Bleak Midwinter.“
Be amazing today, my friend.
