Have you started yet?  Did Black Friday or Cyber Monday kickstart your gift shopping?  Or, do you take advantage of “Christmas in July?”

It’s December, y’all… How quickly we went from giving thanks to giving gifts.  Gotta love when Thanksgiving is this close to Christmas and there is a push to get things going so that you actually have time to enjoy them.

Ahhh, gifts.

So, this leads me to ponder the “gifts” that matter most.  I still believe in Santa~don’t get me wrong here… but, I also believe in God.  And, if I’m gonna make a wish list and mail it north, it’s going straight to heaven.  (Sorry, Santa)

I won’t wish for a new purse…  I won’t ask him for sparkles (although, I wouldn’t be mad at ‘em~just sayin’)… Heck, I won’t even expect a beautifully-wrapped gift under the tree (burlap though, for sure, if he did have wrapping paper).

What we tend to enjoy comes wrapped in giant bows… what we tend to enjoy is tangible… and what we tend to enjoy serves our wish list.  Our children methodically write a letter and mail it to Santa.  (Guilty of that tradition, but not sorry for it.)

What if we strip down the commercial aspect of Christmas?  I mean, truly take a look around us.  Maybe then, our lists would be different.  If “Dear Santa…”was replaced with “Dear Lord…,” then I would surely not ask for material possessions.

I’m thinking that they are laughing their a$$es off in heaven watching us this time of year.

While they are all preppin’ to remember the pilgrimage that lead to the birth of Jesus (now, there are those whom believe that Jesus was not born on December 25^th; that is WAY above my pay grade to try to decipher so I’ll just stick with December 25^th. I digress…), we are all frantically putting up trees and lights and, if you’re me, trying to create a funny Christmas card.  It’s all a part of the holiday season, right?   These traditions make the holidays wonderful, beautiful and special. For some, it’s all we’ve got.

So, let’s imagine the burlap-wrapped gift from God under our tree.  What would you find inside?  Health, prosperity, forgiveness?… What would you want it to be?   Would we shake the gift, hoping to be able to guess what was inside?   Would we silently hope that it is something from our letter and list?

Or, would we trust that what was inside was what we needed most?

Gifts from God are not usually wrapped in bows.  They are usually wrapped in life, yes?  If we look for them, we may just see them well beyond Christmastime.

So, while I wrap gifts for my children ~barely able to stay awake past my teenager~ I will remember… it is not the item inside the bow, but the unwrapped, unbridled joy that it brings upon opening… THAT is the gift.

Thank you, Jesus, for the unseen gifts this holiday season.  I will be sure to unwrap your invisible burlap bag first this year.  If I am lucky, it will be the gift of patience.  Lord knows that I will need it when the wrapping goes flying, the bows disappear, and the work of this elf is over in a blink.

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