Merry Christmas to all! Today is Christmas Eve and I am pondering the wonderful Christmas surprises that I have received over the years. Without divulging the contents of these gifts or the givers of these gifts, I will write briefly about the joy in surprises. Christmas can be extremely stressful for people with the need to buy gifts for everyone in their immediate circle so that no one is left out. Often we give only when others are going to give back to us. However, this seems to defeat the purpose of gift giving. The heart of Christmas giving is to give without receiving anything in return. Now that we have children Christmas is a whole different experience. We want our children to not simply be consumed by the consumption that takes place around the Holiday season. The gift that we were given in the birth of Christ was certainly the largest surprise and gift that Mary and the world had ever received. Without unpacking all that is wrapped up in the gift of the incarnation, I want us to ponder the joy that is represented in surprise gifts taht people are not expecting. The best gifts are often the unexpected ones. This fact is exentuated when we are in a particular difficult spot financially or in the circumstances of life. I want to encourage people to think about who has blessed them in their life through surprise gifts with no intent of receiving anything in return. Maybe you can think of someone in your life who would be blessed by an unexpected gift? This Christmas think of your attitude and posture in gift receiving. Allow for the giver to be blessed simply through the giving and not put off by your belief that they are giving in hopes of getting something else in return. Thank you to those of you who have blessed my life through unexpected gifts at crucial spots in my life. I cannot tell you how much you have touched my life. This Christmas I think of you and the surprise gift we all received that first Christmas night.
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