Gifts

Christmas Sermon

Backstory

Over 600 stories have now been broadcast on the Consider This radio show. As I’m putting words of a story to paper, I always enjoy when the narrative is true. That’s the case here. Cheryl is a real little girl and I know her parents really well.

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Christmas Sermon – #121

The young pastor was pacing. He was totally perplexed. Here it was Christmas Eve and he had no sermon for the midnight service. People would come to the church full of Christmas cheer. They would expect to be inspired and he lacked inspiration. He was so tired of the commercial aspects of Christmas that he feared the real meaning of the season was being lost forever.

He wandered by the life-size nativity scene outside the church and noticed a brightly wrapped gift package by the manger. Curious, he reached out and opened it. Inside he found a pair of tiny baby booties and a card. It read, “This is a birthday present to keep your baby feet warm. Happy Birthday, Jesus.” It was signed, Cheryl, age 4.

The pastor smiled. He could envision young parents teaching their child the true meaning of Christmas in a way that she could understand.

That night, he read the card and based his sermon on it. The card became the core of his sermon every Christmas Eve.

Fifty years later, two elderly parishioners smiled at each other as they listened to the story yet again. Cheryl’s parents had heard it every year. They both agreed that to have inspired this Christmas message over all of these years was the best Christmas gift they ever had.

P.S.

As America moves toward a secular culture, let’s hope that the Christmas message remains. We all benefit from this season of peace and good will. Let’s remember whose birth used to be celebrated on December 25.

[Show #121]

Regifting

Backstory

At one of our girls’ lunches, someone sheepishly admitted to regifting. That opened an avalanche of confessions from those who did indeed pass along to others something that had been gifted to them. Some justified their transgressions. A few told stories of getting caught in the act.

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Regifting – #122

Have you ever dabbled in regifting? You know – passing along a gift that someone has given to you. Oh, admit it. You receive a gift that’s just not something you would use or enjoy. Or that color just does not do you justice. But you know, for sure, that someone else would just love it. So you pass it along.

Now the trick is to regift with panache. There are some rules to follow, if you want to be a real success at regifting. These were passed along to me by some of the world’s greatest regifters. So here are the key tips to Christmas regifting:

Make sure the gift card TO YOU has been removed before you wrap the regift. It’s not a good idea to leave that in there.
Make sure the gift has not rusted while it sat there in the garage, particularly if it has been there for five years or more. That’s definitely not cool.
Make sure you are not passing the gift along to the person who gave it to you in the first place. Keep a list.
Okay, so regifting can be tricky. But when you’re planning to give fruitcake, know that the recipient will always think it us a regift.

So take heed and be sure to have fun this Christmas. We sure are.

P.S.

Is regifting tacky? Etiquette experts suggest that it is acceptable, as long as the item is nice, is in new, unused condition and is something you would have bought for the person if you were paying for it.

Our family plays a game on Christmas for which every prize is a flagrantly admitted white elephant or regift. It’s brought lots of laughter to our holiday and some pretty neat stuff.

[Show #122]

Best Mother’s Day Gift

Backstory – Best Mother’s Day Gift

I was at a loss to choose a gift for my mom for Mother’s Day. Like most mothers of adult children, she has everything. Yet she has meant so much to me, that I wanted to gift her with something befitting her status in my heart. Then a thought from childhood occurred to me. A gift I prepared that cost time rather than money. Hmm. Seemed that might be a good gift from a grown up too. Listen in and see what you think.

Consider This Show – Best Mother’s Day Gift

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Mother’s Day is the biggest greeting card holiday of the year. Adult children throughout the land spend precious time considering what card and what gift to give to the woman who gave them life.

Purchases will include nightgowns and sweaters and jewelry. Restaurants will be full of moms being celebrated by their families. Florists and card merchants’ cash registers will sing.

But as your mom ages, the Mother’s Day gift she may need from you, more than anything else, is the gift of your time. During quiet time together, she can recall all the moments that gave you both joy, as you were growing up. You can tell her how proud you are of the kind of mother she was. She can tell you what pride your choices in life have given her.

Figure out how you can give your mom the gift of your time. Plan a weekend away, just the two of you. Give her tickets to a play, with you as her companion.

Take her to a concert or a bingo or a wrestling match. Whatever she likes to …whether it’s one of YOUR favorite pastime or not.

Give her a gift certificate to a gym – and then go with her to exercise.

The THINGS you buy are appreciated, but the real value is the memories you give. It applies on Mother’s Day – and all year round.

P.S.

You can also post a kudo on Facebook or other social media to show you noticed. It all counts.

[Show #291]

Unexpected Gift

Backstory

How do you keep a friendship going, when you and the other person are far apart? Through communication. That might be a Facebook post, a hand-written letter or an occasional gift. I got to smiling over beloved objects in my home that were gifts from over the years, and this story was the result.

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Unexpected Gift – #650

Imagine a gift arriving in the mail. You open the packing box to find a gaily wrapped present. And it’s not even your birthday. It’s not Christmas. It’s just an ordinary day . . .or at least it was, until the gift arrived.

It came from a friend or a relative who was thinking of you. Someone found something that reminded them of you and sent it on. What an absolutely joy.

A friend once sent me a soft, plush fleece blanket. It was huge. It’s now been on my king size bed for years. Every time I cuddle up in it, I think of him and his family and smile.

My vanity has trinkets and jewelry from various friends. I finger them and recall our last laugh together .

There’s a little sign on my desk reminding me to “Take time to smell the roses.” My young grandson sent it. It had a hidden message. It said to me – He gets it!

Those cubes on my bookcase with cute sayings; someone sent each of them to entertain me. Every one is an object that speaks of love. None of them have much monetary value in the scheme of things. But oh, they have value to me.

A gift – for no reason at all. It’s really special. Besides receiving them,

you can also send them! A really good idea –to consider.

P.S.

Nothing says “I am thinking of you” like adding to someone’s collection with an unexpected gift. Whether they collect matchbook covers (now there’s a dwindling collectible), salt and pepper shakers, toy trains or antique farm toys, when you see one at a yard sale or auction, snatch that baby up and send it on. Make a friend’s day more joyful.

[Show #650]

Mother’s Day Gift

Backstory – Mother’s Day Gift

Lilacs always remind me of Mother’s Day. As a kid, I would gather bunches of the sweet-smelling flowers and bring them to her as one of my Mother’s Day gifts to her. The wonderful fragrance of lilacs in bloom will always remind me of my mom, for that reason.

Seemed I never had a good enough gift for my mom, when the calendar rolled around to mid-May. From the first macaroni necklace strung together with love in kindergarten, I had always wanted my gift to my mom to stand out from all the rest. Here’s a story written about the adult approach to getting that special gift for a mother.

Consider This Show – Mother’s Day Gift

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Mother’s Day Gift – #05-291

Mother’s Day is the biggest greeting card holiday of the year. Adult children throughout the land spend precious time considering what card and what gift to give to the woman who gave them life.

Purchases will include nightgowns and sweaters and jewelry. Restaurants will be full of moms being celebrated by their families. Florists and card merchants’ cash registers will sing.

But as your mom ages, the gift she may need from you, more than anything else, is the gift of your time. During quiet time together, she can recall all the moments that gave you both joy, as you were growing up. You can tell her how proud you are of the kind of mother she was. She can tell you what pride your choices in life have given her.

Figure out how you can give your mom the gift of your time. Plan a weekend away, just the two of you. Give her tickets to a play, with you as her companion.

Take her to a concert or a bingo or a wrestling match. Whatever she likes to do . . . . whether it’s one of YOUR favorite pastime or not.

Give her a gift certificate to a gym – and then go with her to exercise.

The THINGS you buy are appreciated, But the real value is the memories you give. It applies on Mother’s Day – and all year round.

P.S. (After the show…)

I took this advice several times with my own mom. I was a speaker on the convention circuit and took her with me when I was booked out west, in Hawaii and elsewhere. We’d add a few days to spend together after the work was complete. Those times were always precious. She got to see her daughter in action and I got to hear more about the rambunctious life my mom had led.

Time with you mom – a few hours or a few days – unexpected treasures for you both.

[Show #05-291]

One Gift

Backstory – One Gift

We were talking about beauty. Standard wisdom is that beauty fades. Actually, it depends on what you consider beautiful. And that depends on whether your eyes are on something or someone who is loved or simply seen. This story was the result of that reflection.

Consider This Show – One Gift

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To Whom Are You Beautiful? – #458

I heard a wife tell her husband, “If I could give you one gift in life, I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes. Only then would you realize how special you are to me.”

It truly is a gift to be seen through the eyes of love. We are beautiful, in the eyes of those who love us. And if we’re lucky, that person tells us often how much we are loved and cherished, and how beautiful we are – man or woman.

I so enjoy when you can see, just by looking at them, how much a couple care about each other. It is particularly true when they have been together for a long time.

At a recent community meeting, someone announced that a couple was celebrating their 45^th wedding anniversary. The husband stood up and added, “And I am still in love with her!” The spontaneous announcement was so touching, as his bride blushed at the public attention.

But he didn’t even need to say it out loud. You could tell by the loving way he treated her, that she was still that beautiful, flirtatious young woman who had captured his heart so many decades ago. That’s what HE saw when he looked at her, regardless of the whitened hair and wobbly knees that had become today’s reality.

To see them together was to believe in love all over again.

[Show #458]