Gifts and Giving

Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year! Of course, every day is God-given and should therefore not be taken for granted, but those few weeks before Christmas almost seem magical (and I’m not really one for fantasizing and daydreaming).

I do NOT enjoy the commercialization that comes along with Christmas, but that is not what this blog is about. This blog is about gifts.

I love walking through the stores and watching people as they search for that perfect gift. You have the man that walks in hurriedly from the cold and walks down an aisle on a mission. Once he gets to the section he is looking for, however, he stands and stares at the shelf, presumably at the many options available to him, and searches for that perfect option for his loved one. Unsatisfied with the twenty options available to him, he leaves. On to the next store. Then you have the woman who walks leisurely up and down each aisle. She may choose a couple options of one item and walk through the entire store trying to make up her mind. She may decide to purchase one over the other, or she may just purchase both with the intentions of returning the one she decides not to gift. Either way, they are looking for that perfect gift. And what makes that perfect gift? It’s not the item itself. It’s the thought behind it.

In my family, we make lists. Just prior to Thanksgiving, everyone sends each other a list of items they would like for Christmas. It is assumed that all other members of the family will collaborate in an effort to not buy the same gift. Many may think that this takes the fun out of receiving the gifts, but I am always surprised. I do not know whether it is because of my poor memory (concerning what I put on my list) or the fact that they still got to choose the specifics of the item.

I really get more excited over giving someone a gift that I have made or purchased for them than I do getting one in return. It takes all I have sometimes to not give someone a gift right after I purchase it. Just last night, I (along with several of her friends), gave my roommate Jess a musical keyboard. She had wanted one for so long! She was really suspicious when she arrived at the house and all of her friends were there. Holding on to that keyboard, however, was difficult to do! I had had it in hiding for several weeks and was growing very impatient. And still, there is one more that I am just overly anxious to hand out…

Jess