A short time ago, I wrote a bit about Christmas gifts and how as adults, most of us are quite content just to see our families happy and healthy on Christmas Day – this is gift enough.

 

 

All that got me to thinking about Christmas gifts I’ve received in the past. You know, I can only remember a few: A Fanner Fifty cowboy six-shooter by Mattel, a 26” blue bicycle by Schwinn, and a Wilson first-baseman’s mitt. Dad insisted it be a leather glove made by Wilson.

 

 

A couple of interesting things about these three gifts… First, all three are currently in my shed – the six-shooter and baseball glove at the bottom of a cardboard barrel while the bike, flat tires and all, rests against a wall next to the lawn tractor. Also, I have pictures of myself with all three of these gifts, taken at three different Christmases. They must have been important gifts at the time because I don’t have pictures of myself with any other Christmas gifts so prominently displayed.

 

 

I’ve received a lot of gifts in 56 years, but only these three have stayed with me for the long haul. How many adults do you know that have moved several times during their lives, always hauling around several toys from their childhood? Perhaps these have stuck with me because they were ones I can recall looking forward to receiving the most.

 

 

Something else that has remained with me for 56 Christmases are words… Sitting at the Children’s Christmas service practices, I don’t have to look in the program folder or open my hymnal. The words of Scripture and the Christmas hymns have never been left behind like so many other gifts… And, they are not sitting at the bottom of a cardboard barrel or leaning against the wall in my shed.

 

 

These are as fresh and new as when I first learned them, and I always look forward to hearing them with great joy and anticipation. Merry Christmas.