Gifts for My Children at Christmas
We had a wonderful Christmas Day. It was awesome to see what our church family did on Christmas morning. We did a Christmas Giving Project altogether and we bought a new washing machine for one of our families, jackets for our African brothers, and assistance to some of the immigrant sisters in our church. It was a good turnout of folks too. Some people missed it and, in turn, they missed out on a neat “church family” event. The spirit was so warm and joyful. We loved it.
Our family then had a great afternoon together. We opened presents, ate, and played together. Then we got on the phone and called friends and family in Arizona, Hawaii, Colorado, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida, England, Germany, & Italy.
One of our supporting churches, Beth Eden Baptist of Denver, sent over packages for our children. They did a fantastic job. In fact, right now there’s a tent and lawn chair set up in our living room where our happy little camper will be sleeping for the night — and probably for the week!
As a family, we’d like to thank so many people for a wonderful day. So many folks in our church blessed us, our family blessed us, and our friends abroad blessed us. Most of all, Heaven blessed us.
For our Christmas Morning Service, one of our brothers read the following challenge to our congregation. The original writing came from a Gloria Gaither book. However, the theology was trash so I re-wrote it. About 30% comes from the original writing & I thought I should list my “idea-starter”. The reading speaks about important, intangible gifts — values & character that go so much farther than recreation and toys. Sadly, many young adults we encounter these days were never given these gifts. So, we thought it important to recall the high objectives of the parent. Enjoy and have a Happy Incarnation Day!
-
Gifts I Want to Give My Children at Christmas
I want to give my children the gift of solitude. I want for them to know the joy of silence; to know how to be alone and not feel uncomfortable. I want to make them restless with the artificial excesses of our culture and disenchanted with commercial distractions. I want them to pursue the quiet depths of God; to be still and know Him.
I want to give my children the gift of discernment. I want them to be seers. I long for them to grasp the meanings of things and decipher the subtleties of relationships, sermons, history, and nature. I also want them to be listeners. I look forward to the day when they can hear the cry of a person for help above the din of advertisement. I want to teach them to hear with Holy Spirit ears.
I want to give my children the gift of tears; to feel the pain that shatters the violated, to sense the emptiness of the deserted, to understand the weight of the confused, depressed, and lost. I would teach them to cry for the right things – for people who are locked away, broken, and trapped. I want them to cry for God, Who is the Desire of Nations and Lover of Men’s Souls but rejected by those same men again and again, every second of every minute of every day.
I want to give my children the gift of joy. I want them to dance! I would have them whirl to the rhythms of Heavenly blessing, embrace the lonely, sweep children into their arms, give wings to the elderly, and leap over the barriers of circumstances with humor and imagination and faith. I want them to live by the Divine axiom that declares, “You are always more happy when you give, than when you receive.”
I want to give my children the gift of gratitude. I would have them know where they have been, who brought them to where they are, and where they are going. I want them to arise in the morning with thanksgiving and sing a praise song upon their bed each evening. I would have them dwell on contentment – contented to live and breathe, contented to love and be loved, contented to have shelter and sustenance, contented to read God’s Word and pray above all other activity.
I want to give my children the gift of integrity. They must be truthful at any cost, bound by their word, make honest judgments even against themselves, be just, and have pure motives. I would have them realize that they’re accountable to God alone and then to His Bride – the Church. I want them to know that how they love and treat the Church is a reflection of what they think about God Himself. I want them to know what and where their hands and feet should do and go. I want them to know what their eyes should see, ears should hear, and mouths should say.
I want to give my children the gift of prayer. I want them to know that in the relationship with God there is much to be said – and He is the One who must say it. I would make them aware that prayer often has no words, but rather, a vulnerable access to God’s love, mercy, grace, and justice. I would have my children know that there’s nothing too insignificant to bring before our Great God. I would have them write down their prayers and then rejoice when they are answered. I want them to see how the God of Heaven is working in their world.
I want to give my children the gift of salvation. I want so badly to give my children the gift of holy salvation. I want them to have the confidence that transcends death and the peace that passes understanding. I long for them to explore the complexities of the greatest kindness toward mankind that God ever wrought and to rest in the simplicity of being a child of God. I want to see them come through the Cross, to our side, to Eternal Life.
But I can’t give that gift. I can’t buy it. I can’t wrap it. I can’t baptize it into them. And I can’t sign a religious document to get it. The gift has already been given. I can only lead the way. That gift is reserved to be given to my children by someone greater than myself. I can urge. I can plead. I can hope with all of my heart. But my children must want the greatest gift and turn away from all the fakes. Their hearts must turn to the Gift and that is the gift I want to receive from my children.
2 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
You speak my heart…
Comment by Dinah Thomas — 12/27/2005 @ 7:16 am
Thanks, Rob, for your insight into what parenting is all about.
Comment by vicki alter` — 1/9/2006 @ 7:39 pm