We are only a couple days away from Christmas and I find myself reminiscing about Christmases past. I have found myself really missing my grandparents as Christmas has drawn closer and closer. Each one in their own unique way always made Christmas seem so special to me as a child. I remember love and laughter. I remember great food and lots of presents. There are so many memories that have become just that, memories of the past. I remember them all so fondly as I sit here listening to the Christmas carols pouring through my cell phone.
It’s funny the things that you remember as you grow older. I remember the excitement of seeing the piles of presents underneath the trees as we went to our different grandparent’s houses as a child but as I sit here now, I find that I can’t actually remember what any of those presents were. Of course, I remember a few that really stuck out to me but the truth is it’s not the presents I remember, it’s the presence I remember. I remember the feelings I had. I remember the feelings of being loved. I remember laughter and I remember joy but I don’t remember the gifts.
The gifts that have stuck in my memory as I sit here watching my own little one count down the minutes until Christmas are the gifts that transcend the limits of time. Gifts like love and time are priceless and last long after bows and ribbons and paper have faded away. I don’t remember many presents that my grandparents gave me but I do remember faces that lit up when grandchildren walked through the door. I remember ears that listened as little voices excitedly told about the things that young children love. I remember arms that offered warm hugs.
I remember a grandmother that could hardly see anymore but didn’t need eyes to see how to spoil her grandbabies and talk their parents out of the spanking they probably really needed. I don’t remember a thing she ever gave me for Christmas but I do remember the love she gave. I remember another grandmother that baked her expressions of love every Christmas. Her house was a delight at Christmas time as she showed her love by baking and making everyone’s favorite foods and desserts. She poured her heart and her time into those meals.
It’s funny that I don’t remember a single present she ever gave me either but I do have some of her favorite recipes that I make in her memory. I even have one of my favorite recipes of hers that was always my absolute favorite Christmas dessert. The dessert shall henceforth remain nameless because a few years ago I wrote a story about it and mentioned how good it was and the fact that hers was the only one I liked to eat. Every grandmother that read that story felt compelled to bring me a sample of their take on that dessert. I learned my lesson from that experience!
I smile as I think about that now and once again I’m grateful for the memories it brings. One of my favorite memories of Christmas has to be of my granddaddy though. Every Christmas each of us children got to bring one of our presents from Santa to my grandparent’s house. I can remember so clearly sitting in my granddaddy’s lap and telling him all about my latest toy. I don’t remember what those toys were now but I do remember how interested he always was. Years later, I would watch that same thing happen as my little boy sat on his knee telling about his toy.
I remember watching them and smiling with a bit of a lump in my throat as I watched the way my granddaddy still showed that same interest after all those years. I knew that he didn’t have a clue what on earth that Nintendo DS was but he listened and said all the right things as my son chattered away. I hoped that someday my son would remember that feeling of being loved that I had always felt sitting there talking to him. Once again, it was not a Christmas present he gave but the love he gave that made such a difference in my life.
As I sit here traveling down memory lane, I hear Silent Night coming through my phone now and I am reminded that the very first Christmas gift didn’t come wrapped in ribbons and bows either. The very best Christmas gift ever given came wrapped in swaddling cloths and more than that it was wrapped in love. God took all of the love that was in His heart and wrapped it in swaddling cloths and laid it in a manger as a gift to you and me. The true gift of Christmas is the gift of His presence with us. Because of that first Christmas we have hope; we have love.
The best gifts don’t come wrapped with ribbons and bows. The best gifts are the kinds of things that boxes and bags can’t hold. Gifts like love and mercy and hope and salvation can’t be tied up with ribbons and bows. God in His extravagant love showed us how to give when He gave the best He had to offer. He gave us His Son and in so doing He gave us the chance at a new life. If we accept the Gift He offers we can trade this life of sin and despair for one of hope. He offers salvation, mercy, and grace but it is up to us to accept this beautiful Gift.
This Christmas as I look at the beautiful packages hidden beneath the tree, I can’t help but think of all the gifts I’ve been given that can’t be hidden beneath a tree. Somehow I can’t help but think that they are the best kinds of gifts to get. I’ve been given many beautiful gifts but the gifts of my salvation, the love of people that care, and the feelings of being important are irreplaceable gifts that can never be forgotten. And it is those kinds of gifts that I hope to share with those I love most this Christmas. I hope that I will leave them with many memories of my love for them.
After all, love was the very first Christmas gift and I say it still makes the perfect gift!
“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” – Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
“For unto you is born this day, a Savior who is Christ the Lord… Luke 2:11
Merry Christmas
Katrina Douglas
