The Gift That Keeps Giving
Tuesday, December 4th, 2018 | Uncategorized | No Comments
By Christina Fitzwilliam
I was 10 years old. The gifts had been given, the turkey and cranberry sauce devoured. My mom and I shared a conspiratorial glance as we snuck away into a back bedroom. I had mentioned how I much I really wanted a chocolate covered cherry. As I followed her into the back of the house, I assumed correctly that she had a few cherries stashed in a secret place. She turned her back to me, opened a large brown bag and began rummaging through its contents. She didn’t notice me peeking over her shoulder. As she found what she was looking for, she caught my eye and the evidence of my guilt. I had already seen what else that bag held.
As my mind raced through the contents of my stocking I had received that morning, I saw a near duplicate in the very bag my mom was holding. As my little mind put the pieces together, the truth of Santa Claus was revealed to me in an instant. I don’t know who felt worse – my mom for giving away the Christmas secret before I was ready, or me for spoiling it for myself.
Although the magical Christmas I knew as a young child was lost forever, I learned the true meaning of Christmas a decade and a half later. It’s not that I didn’t know in some superficial way that Christmas is about Jesus; it’s just that it wasn’t important to me. Until it was. Jesus revealed Himself to me during a season that I found myself completely lost: Divorced, scared, alone, and with a newborn daughter. The gift I received that year was the most incredible gift I had ever received.
As Jesus drew me near, I experienced joy, awe, peace, and comfort as I had never known. The amazing thing about that gift is that Jesus is still giving. The storms in my life would be overwhelming by any standard… (stage 3 cancer, two grandbabies we are full-time grand-parenting, and an adult child in full-blown addiction), and yet my relationship with Jesus has grown into something I can’t fathom living one single day without. Christmas is about the gift of Jesus. The gift IS Jesus.
We at Surface Doc hope and pray that your homes are filled with all the beauty of Christmas. Regardless of who is coming for Christmas dinner or how many gifts surround the tree, our most sincere hope is that whatever season you find yourself, you experience joy. It’s yours and mine for the asking. Merry CHRISTmas from our home to yours.
Surface Doc
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www.surface.com
