DEC. 25 - Thoughts on Gift Receiving

During today's message we thought together about how we receive the gift of Jesus! It's also helpful to think about how we receive gifts that are offered to us from others - both at Christmas time - and all year long. Here are some thoughts from others...


DON'T FORGET the "small moments." In our hurried pace, we sometimes miss the gifts God has given us. Moments that usually escape us can be precious - a sunrise, a full moon, a bird singing. Stop to look, listen, smell, enjoy, and admire the gifts God continually supplies. And say THANK YOU!


1 TIMOTHY 4:4-5 (nlt). Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.


OLD SCOTTISH PROVERB: Whatever you do, don't be a stingy receiver!


WRITE A FAMILY PRAYER. Have each family member include a few sentences of things they are thankful for from 2011. Store the prayer with your Christmas keepsakes, and read it again a year from now! And then write a new one!


WATCH FOR GIFTS WITHOUT BOWS. Some of the best gifts you will receive may not be wrapped in fancy paper with a bow on top. A kind gesture. Help in a tough time. Don't take these surprises for granted. Acknowledge them with a grateful heart! If you really dare, think about the gifts you have received that seemed negative at first - but turned out for the best.


A PRAYER. O Lord Christ, you came to us as a small gift, in an ordinary place, in common time. Help us to receive the small things as precious, and get caught up with the grandiose, the extravagant, the expensive, the exquisite. We are, after all - all of us - very small in terms of history and the universe. Yet YOU gratefully receive US with joy! Teach us to do the same! Amen.


THINK OF MARY. So often we are reluctant receivers of the gifts that come our way. We don't consider unexpected interruptions or extra activities as gifts. We want everything to run smoothly, according to our plans. When our days involve changes in our plans, giving thanks becomes a chore. Like Mary, who was given the quite unexpected gift of being the mother of the Messiah - we can receive with thanksgiving the unexpected gifts!


AND FINALLY - SOME ADVICE FROM MISS MANNERS ON THANK YOU NOTES!! Today's Houston Chronicle Miss Manners column had some good advice on how to write a good thank you note!

She notes three good elements to a good thank you note!

(1) An expression of delight.

(2) Mention of the particular present and why it caused this delight.

(3) Kind words about the giver along with the expression of thanks.

She also notes two examples of POOR thank you notes!!

The first is in the "Thanks, I Hate It" category. This one came in response to being given a basket of fruits and sweets:

“I know that this probably cost a mint, so it makes me feel very guilty when I throw it all in the trash. One year I took a bunch of sweets to the women and children’s shelter here in town, but I was appalled when I saw that almost everyone in there was morbidly obese. So, I never took another. There is really not one soul who lives in this house who can eat those sweets with reckless abandon — all of us have weight issues. If you can’t steer away from sending these, please do not worry — I will just continue to throw it all away. (I did keep the six pears.)”

The second is in the category of “Don’t Think You’re Finished Shopping.” This person received the gift of a sweater:

“I’m sending this back, because even though the size is OK, I like to wear things bigger, but the real problem is the color. What were you thinking? I hate blue! I didn’t see a gift receipt, and anyway, you live nearer the mall than I do, so I would appreciate a larger one in medium green, not too dark and certainly not that awful yellowy green. You can send me pictures from the store if you’re not sure.”


REMEMBER to "season your gift-receiving" appropriately!!