Gifts From The Heart

Every Who

Down in Who-ville

Liked Christmas a lot . . .

But the Grinch,

Who lived just north of Who-ville,

Did NOT!

The Grinch hated Christmas!  The whole Christmas season!

Now, please don’t ask why.  No one quite knows the reason.

It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.

It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all

May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Sometimes I feel like my heart is two sizes too small when the Christmas season begins and I think about everything I have to do, every present I have to buy, and all the cooking and baking I have to finish.  It is all those “have tos” that cause my heart to get smaller and smaller to the point that the joy of Christmas could be squeezed right out of me, but then I go on a search for a Giving Tree.

Some churches call them Angel Trees, some places call them Secret Angels, or just Giving Trees, but no matter what they are called, the idea is the same.  Give a gift to someone you don’t know, someone who is not expecting a gift from you, someone you will never even meet and someone who will never pay you back.  You can walk into Walmart and see a Christmas tree covered with little tags.  On closer inspection, each tag is marked girl or boy with an age on it.  Sometimes there are suggestions as to what the child might like, but most of the time you are on your own to imagine what a girl age 7 might be dreaming of, or what is in the mind of a 10 year old boy.  Sometimes nursing homes give out gift lists for residents who do not have family that will buy for them at Christmas or prisons give out lists from inmates who do not want their children or spouse to wake up Christmas morning with nothing from them. The office where my husband works receives names from DCFS.   Every year I look forward to the day that Beth sends out the e-mail that says the names are in her office so I can pick out a child.  You might have thought I was going to write pick out a child to bless but that would be wrong.  I take a name because – like the Grinch – it causes my heart to grow three sizes. The blessing is mine.

 I will never meet this child. I am not obligated to buy a gift.  I am not expected to buy a gift.   I will not be there when the gift is opened.  It is simply a gift from the heart.  Heart gifts put everything back into perspective.  Instead of thinking of everything I have to do, I am humbled by the realization that I am blessed to be able to give a gift of love.  So this Christmas season, I challenge you to find a way to give a gift of love.  I can guarantee that your heart, just like the Grinch, will grow at least three sizes.

John 3:16 (NLT) “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.