As I mentioned in a previous post, our eight-year-old son’s gift list has remained short.
“I really don’t want much for Christmas,” he announced. “All I want for Christmas is an art kit … and love.”
“An art kit should be pretty easy to wrap,” I said, “but how will I wrap up a box of love?”
Some gifts cannot be easily wrapped.
nAncY reminded us of this at the beginning of Advent:
as we look upon the importance of giving, in this season of remembering God’s most wonderful gift to us, we can think about how God’s Love speaks to our own need and the need of others.
the first and most awesome need is to have Jesus come into our heart and life, and within that we need to feed our selves in the word and in fellowship and relationship through Him.
gifts
we are each given gifts according to God’s grace in Love…
there are many gifts that can not be wrapped and put under a tree. yet, these are also gifts that shine through, every day, in Love. the Holy Spirit can speak the name of Jesus, through the sharing of these gifts.
you are a child of God, and you hold special gifts.
share them, in Love.
Like nAncY pointed out, there are many gifts that can’t be wrapped and put under the tree.
I originally thought the love that my son requested would be one of them. But a few days after he revealed his wish list, I was tucking him into bed. He rolled onto his side and explained, “I know how we can wrap up love. You can get heart-shaped stuff like pillows and candy and put it all in a box. Then you can wrap up a box of love!”
Well … I could try.
But do you know how hard it is to find heart-shaped items in the midst of snowflakes, snowmen, Santas and poinsettias? I looked at Goodwill, where I turned up a picture frame with hearts on it. Nothing in the shape of a heart jumped out at me in Target.
Monday I walked into a local CVS. On a shelf next to the marshmallow Santas and chocolate-covered cherries was a Valentine’s candy display. February seems a long way off, but I didn’t criticize. Instead, I gratefully snatched up a huge heart-shaped lollipop, a chocolate heart, and a bag of juju hearts.
We’re wrapping up some love this year.
It occurred to me as I was reviewing Luke 2 that Mary managed to find a way to wrap up some love, too, when she brought forth her firstborn Son. She wrapped Love in swaddling cloths.
Love was temporarily contained, but not for long. He would have left behind those cloths as He grew.
Much later He would be wrapped in more cloth, temporarily contained … but not for long. That cloth, too, He left behind.
Because Love cannot be—and is not meant to be—contained.
Post by Ann Kroeker of annkroeker.com and notsofastbook.com. Photo by Ann Voskamp. Used with permission.
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One year I gave a precious friend a photograph of her two sons. I was so impressed with myself when I came up with this little jingle:
The gift of love cannot be bought,
But in a picture, it may be caught.
This is the Christmas gift I bear
And with you I choose to share.
I think I was 19. Crafty,huh? When my youngest was eight (is there something about that age?) he wrapped up a piece of paper for me that said, “It’s not about the giving or the gitting…it’s about the loving.”
I still treasure that gift.
I’ll bet your friend loved the poem almost as much as the photo! I told the story about your son to my family tonight. Everyone went “awwww…”
Ann, this was so dear. From your son’s request, to your almost-fruitless search (thank goodness for early Valentine’s marketing, eh Sam? ; – ) , to the final thoughts about Jesus/Love not being contained. I’m feeling like you’ve given me a gift this morning.
Thank you, L.L. You shot a gift right back at me today with this response.
They should have a store for year-round holiday shoppers and decorators. Goodwill is so hit or miss.
Love is on my mind and skating about in my heart today, too (the love I have for my husband amid the realness of our life is something to be cherished in our home). You are so right, that Love is not to be contained by a manger and a make-shift baby blanket, nor is it pounded so tight to the cross with flesh-piercing nails, that it can’t be shared. That sorta Love is continually shaken outta God’s heart-box from heaven… Praise Him for that Gift!
Blessings.
I popped over to visit and loved your own “Love” post. Your phrasing in response to my basic idea is powerful. I’m going to think about this phrase for a few days: “That sorta Love is continually shaken outta God’s heart-box from heaven.”
Love the cloth-cloth imagery.
Though I suppose someone has pointed it out to me in the past, I don’t think I’d really put it together until I was writing.
Seriously cute, Ann. The way you play with that cloth imagery is poignant.
Since I just committed to healthier eating and excercise, I had to laugh that the “universal symbol” of love is filled with chocolate! Great story. And what a sweet son you must have.
You know. My daughter is eight…
Marcus, I know an eight-year-old boy who will have bags of JuJu hearts to share in a day or so, if you want to swing by Indiana with your daughter….
the words that came through me are a gift to me the way they came through you.
today that gift of Love was greatly appreciated. i will wrap it it up for a moment to hold again and then pass it on.
Love to you.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts a month ago, nAncY, so that I could ponder and share your thoughts, too.
Love to you, too.
Too precious, Ann. And that you didn’t dismiss him says much of you.
I can’t imagine life without this child…..
Official member of the Eight-Year-Old Club here.
This is beautiful Ann. You have a beautiful boy. We have just finished watching “The Nativity Story” and it occurs to me that God wrapped up love in the form of an infant boy and gave Him to each of us that night. What a precious gift.
Merry Christmas Ann.
Thank you for your post, Ann. I, too, was faced this year with an eight-year-old request: “I don’t want anything for Christmas this year but the best gift. The gift of giving.” How do you get THAT for Christmas?! Well, a few weeks later I received a few material requests, but God really knocked on the door with that one! He is so great to speak through our kids and show us what really matters.