Gift Giving This Year

I know that you have already experienced an avalanche of catalogs stuffed in your mailbox. Some of you survived "black Friday," others waited for "cyber Monday." I don't want to sound like Scrouge... but I am concerned about the spending (did you hear about the Wal-Mart employee who was killed by greedy shoppers last week?) and the buying and where it is leading us? Every year, the pressure is on... to get more and spend more - and what is the end result?
Well, here's a tip and I hope you'll take it to heart (even for those who are shopping for dad/grandpa this year). The best gift of all is to give yourself. I promise it is just what your loved one - has always needed and always wanted. It is the gift that keeps on giving through out the year (can you remember one thing you got under the tree last year... two years ago?).
Our family will remember one of the best Christmases ever, was the year we gave ourselves to each other. Coupons filled the tree with promises to "I'll make your bed for a week" or a "batch of your favorite cookies," a "trip to get ice cream" or "read a story" to you. All coupons had to be redeemed by a set date and the fun continued long after the tree was down and decorations were put away.
I've included a couple of gifts that I will cherish forever. Recently Dad made me a shadow box with all my old barber tools. I will never forget how the tears flowed the day, Sue gave me a picture of my Grandma & Grandpa Deeter on a old fashion screen door frame. Mom recently gave me a family heirloom, their old clock, passed down through three generations. Another treasure is an old fishing creel and net from the a dear friend's widow. With each gift, hand made and/or personal keepsake, they gave me a piece of themselves. There is no way that I would ever take back or trade in... one of these priceless gifts.
The greatest Gift of all came wrapped in swaddling clothes and was found lying in a manger in the town of Bethlehem, long ago. That Gift has changed the world. Do you know why? Answer - because He gave Himself, approximately 33 years later, when He died for our sins on an old Roman cross. And the Gift keeps on giving... Merry CHRISTmas!