Christmas Gifts
When it came to opening Christmas presents my father
behaved more like a sibling than a parent. I was thus often
able to convince him that we should open presents a day
early, hoping he would influence the tough sell-Mom. Our
tradition was to always open gifts on Christmas Eve, but I
always stressed that since Mom had to work that day, we
should open our presents a day earlier so she too would be
able to enjoy the events. If I had to describe myself as a
youngster in just four words it would be: "always thinking
of others." Yeah, right!
I'll never forget the day I came home from a half-day at
school to find our house completely empty. My parents were
still at work, which gave me the whole house to myself. I
read some comic books, watched a little TV, ate some junk
food and walked past the Christmas tree at least a thousand
times, just staring at the presents that were neatly wrapped
underneath.
Curiosity got the best of me, so I began searching for gifts
with my name on the tags. As I began counting I couldn't
believe how many were mine, or how each varied in shape and
size. I eventually mustered enough courage to pick one up
and give it a little shake just to see if I could guess what
the pretty paper, ribbons and bows were concealing.
Before I knew it, I had all my presents out from under the
tree, shaking them and trying desperately to peek into the
folds of the wrapping paper. My mother always wrapped
presents so well you couldn't see anything! So I had the
idea of gently pulling some tape loose to see if this would
reveal anything. Nothing. I pulled a little more tape here
and little more there until finally I had unwrapped the
whole present!
After wrapping it back up I decided to try another one. One
by one I eventually opened all the gifts before rewrapping
them and placing them exactly as they were under the tree! I
must have been a victim of temporary insanity thinking my
parents wouldn't notice-my mother in particular. I'm
convinced she had ESP. I mean, not only did she always know
when I was doing something wrong; she also could foretell
the future: she always told me what would happen when my
father got home, and boy, she was always right on the money!
I was caught and confronted, yet my parents decided not to
punish me; instead, they decided to make me reopen the gifts
on Christmas Eve. To me that was the worst part of the whole
situation. Although I tried to act surprised or very
appreciative with each one I reopened, on the inside I was
tormented with guilt and shame.
There are things God has in store for us that He is not
willing to reveal at the present. This doesn't mean that He
will not allow us to possess them; it merely means that He
has a timeframe for presenting them. Our problem is we
always try to open these gifts before they are actually
placed in our hands. Although the gift may be God's will for
your life, possessing it prematurely will cause the gift to
become something NOT His will. He may allow you to see the
beautiful wrappings that conceal it, He may even allow you
to read your name on its tag, but until He places it into
your hands, it does not belong to you.
Relax and be patient; even though His timing may seem
ridiculously slow, it is always perfectly calculated.
Remember, a gift is only a gift when given; the gift that is
received before that is actually stolen.
God's greatest gift was Jesus Christ; He was wrapped in
swaddling clothing and lying in a manger long before the
gift was actually given. Think of the birth of Jesus as the
Gift that is sitting under the tree still wrapped and a
mystery to us all; the day He died ON the tree was the day
the gift became ours.
Mike Collins mikecollinsemail@yahoo.com