What is Your Best Gift?

Some of us have been giving gifts a long time. Some years we manage to get the one thing our loved ones really wanted.

Many years ago, my daughter's  father and I sent a gift to an extended family member whom I had never met. When it arrived, she called to tell us how insensitive and impersonal the gift had been. I was horrified by the ingratitude. Clearly not subscribers of the philosophy, it's the thought that counts.

I think about one of the pastors at my church. He buys his wife gifts every year and then after ward, they review the gifts. He has a knack for getting the wrong thing. He admitted that he chokes almost every year. I keep hoping he'll tell us a story about giving her the perfect gift.

A couple of married acquaintances in Florida drove each other crazy by taking back every gift the other bought them.

I like to give. I came from a large family that believed in making gifts and investing your self in them with one's time and talent.

"Those are the gifts people remember," my dad said. I didn't have a lot of money, but I tried to give one gift that might last--I made Christmas cards for my friends. (I heard later that many people saved them.)

I like to give so much that I forget that others like to give to me. When people give me gifts, I am always always surprised because I never expect them.To the exasperation of my famly, my lists are usually short. Maybe it comes from years of being a single mom and being grateful for every little thing, a phone call from some one remembering you, a card in the mail, a hug.

I'm blessed and grateful no matter what I get. I cherish the time I get to have with people. I believe it's the thought that counts. At the top of my list of blessings I count my family and friends. The ones who believe in me. I believe spending time with one another still matters.