By Steve McIlwain
Hubs here.
The greatest gift in the history of Christmas flicks … the Red Ryder BB Gun. Other notables include the wienie whistle from The Santa Clause, Turbo Man from Jingle All the Way (Sinbad and Arnold in their prime), and the cat in Christmas Vacation. But the Red Ryder BB Gun stands alone as the pinnacle of Christmas gift giving. It perfectly represents the jaw-dropping awe (and potential freak-out/meltdown) of opening a hallowed gift.
Before continuing the glorification of Christmas gifts, please do not get me wrong, the Christmas season is NOT about getting stuff. It is not about crossing all the wants off your Christmas list and basking in the glow of all your sweet, new stuff. The concept of giving and receiving gifts represents the ultimate gift … the birth of Jesus. With that as the perfect picture of gift giving, our gifts represent that impeccable present and allow us to joyfully express our love to those close to us. Christmas is not about gift giving, but the giving of gifts allows us to participate in the Christmas story by emulating Christ’s love for us.
MGM
Ok, back to the BB gun … what is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received? The thing that kept you up at night thinking about? The gift that when you opened it your life was complete? A Transformer, GI Joe, Cabbage Patch Kid, Barbie doll house, or Lite-Brite? For me it was the original Nintendo system with the Power Pad. I still remember opening it, completely speechless, half elated-half frozen in disbelief … “Is this thing really mine?”
I’ve felt a similar feeling about something else … my wife. “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22). If any verse in the Bible is understated, this is it. The fact is: your spouse is a gift from God. A hand-made, perfectly crafted, jaw-dropping gift made exclusively for you. At some point you’ve encountered a feeling that rivals (and hopefully far exceeds) the Red Ryder BB Gun experience with your spouse. Remember how it felt to first meet, talk, hold hands, kiss, and cuddle? Like a new package being revealed, each step was filled with anticipation, excitement, and euphoria.
Here’s another question: that amazing Christmas gift you received when you were a kid, where is it now? Sure it’s a great memory for you, but odds are that 99 out of 100 of those life-altering gifts are now somewhere collecting dust. Often our spouses suffer that same fate. At first we’re elated and can’t get enough of them. Then over time we get bored, and eventually they end up somewhere collecting dust. Maybe not physically collecting dust, but they’re nowhere near the rarified gift you once saw them as. Something that once brought so much excitement and joy is outshined by new interests and turns into little more than a distant memory.
Yet, that’s the amazing part of the gift of your spouse: it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Better than a jelly of the month club, your spouse is a timeless package that you get to open every single day. REMEMEBER THAT EXCITEMENT! Hold onto that anticipation. Treasure that gift. Every single day you get to open the greatest gift you’ll ever receive on this earth. Every morning you get to wake up to the perfectly wrapped package you’ve waited your whole life to open. Instead of seeing your spouse as a dusty, old toy, see them as the brand new, sparkling, awe-inspiring gift that they are.
My hope for you and your husband/wife is that you’ll wake up each morning together with this childlike wonder:
“We plunged into the cornucopia quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice.”
…and may every evening bring you such visions of your love as you drift off to sleep:
“Next to me in the blackness lay my oiled blue steel beauty. The greatest Christmas gift I had ever received, or would ever receive. Gradually, I drifted off to sleep, pranging ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots.”
If you have no idea what those lines mean, you need more A Christmas Story in your life … and Ovaltine.
Copyright © 2011, Foundation Restoration. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No reproduction allowed without written permission from Foundation Restoration and/or the author.
Great one Steve! I completely agree! It is so easy to get wrapped up in the wrongs of your spouse or to get discouraged by patterns or behaviors that you wish were slightly modified to be perfect but the truth is, each day is a gift and we need to treat it that way! I really enjoyed your article! Thanks!
Anonymous, thanks for taking the time to give some feedback on Steve’s article. Truly our spouse is a gift from God, and we need to behave accordingly. So glad you enjoyed this article; thanks for sharing!