I'm not the best giver of gifts. Primarily because I don't really follow the traditional rules of gift giving. I know some people who have almost a spiritual gift of giving gifts. The right gift, the right time, can speak volumes to show someone you love them, and are thinking of them. (I tend to use words more than gifts to communicate that to people.)
I try. But I fall short, I think primarily because my goal in giving gifts is to create memories.
There are a few people out there who if ever asked "What is the most memorable gift you ever received?" would give the answer of one of my gifts. But that isn't always a good thing. Sometimes my gifts are memorable because they are odd.
For me, a gift is about creating a memory. I think hard on a gift, and then think about how to deliver it, wrap it, etc.
I almost never wrap a gift in the traditional-perfectly-wrapped-gift method. Because that won't be memorable. Instead, I might tear the paper up, or wad it, or use scraps, or somehow make it wonky so when you look at it your brain is already working "okay this is different, this is odd."
There was a year when my sister had a reputation for returning certain articles of clothing, so, I bought her several gift certificates, which she would enjoy, but to make it memorable, I taped each one to a different canned meat, and wrapped that. So the bigger the value of the cert, the bigger the meat. There was a canned ham, spam, and some canned fish.
Yeah I know, it's weird.
One year I made a gift memorable without meaning to, in giving my nephews Pig Teeth necklaces from PNG, I almost traumatized them. Whoops!
Why do I approach gift giving this way? Yes I like to give people things that they'll enjoy…. but the novelty of new things fades quickly. A memory lasts much longer.
As we celebrate Christmas, we are rekindling a memory of something important that happened so long ago. Christ was born! That should amaze you still! You should be able to fondly look back at that gift, and at the time you accepted that gift, with the same wonderment of Christmas morning to a child.
We give gifts because it makes Christmas magical, but even without a single gift, it already is magical, and memorable, because Christ did it best. He gave us a gift we were not expecting, in a way we were not expecting it, wrapped in a non-traditional bundle, born in a non-traditional place!
Tradition is good, when it points to the right place. My tradition as odd as it may be, has always been meant to disrespect the 'stuff' a little bit, but respect the 'idea' behind the stuff. Reminding us of what Christ did, how He wrapped himself up in flesh, became man, and in a embarrassingly humble way, he entered this world.
Christmas is a good time to express gratitude and kind wishes towards the people you care about. And we do care about all of you! You may not get a card this year because we can't seem to get our acts together and get a photo taken, and we're allowing ourselves the freedom to not stress out over sending out cards. We are thankful for the ones we get, and hold no judgement for the ones missing. I would much rather people spend their time less stressed. Don't stress about giving me a gift, don't stress about sending me a card. I value your sanity much more than any trinket. If you came up to me and said 'Chad, this year, instead of giving you a card or a gift, I just sat for five minutes and praised God for His awesome gift of Christ in my life"…. that would be the best gift of all!
Merry Christmas!
