by Patricia Bradley
It’s that wonderful time of year! Christmas is coming and excitement rings in the air as we search for exactly the right gift for our loved ones…and not so loved ones. As I thought about this post for Window Over the Sink, I remembered a gift from my ‘tween years. Now, we didn’t call it ‘tween years back then…we would’ve said I was twelve. But that’s beside the point.
I had asked for a camera for Christmas…a Brownie. For those nowadays who use their phones to snap photos, a Brownie was made by Kodak…you know, that company that provided film and it was small and dark brown… sigh ... let me show you a picture.
Even as a kid, I wanted to take photos and one of the things I wanted to photograph was the moon. Which back then seemed an impossible task. Anyway, as presents were put under the tree, none of them resembled a camera, and for once, I didn’t sneak around and carefully open packages to see what was wrapped. Why not, you ask? Because I didn’t want to be disappointed if it wasn’t there, and if it was, I don’t know that I could wait to start using it.
Christmas morning at 5 a.m. … yes, we got up in the middle of the night back then. I’m not sure kids do that anymore. And under the tree was a new present. Yes, my Brownie. We were very poor and my parents had sacrificed no telling what to buy the camera for me. The rest of the day, and really for most of my life, I am the one in the family who takes photos, now with a really nice Canon Sureshot. It’s what I took this photo of the moon with.
As I pondered this post, the question of exactly what a gift is arose, so I consulted Webster’s for the definition. Gift: present, endowment, natural talent, empower, bestow, bequeath, invest. Invest. Hmmm. Hadn’t really thought about a gift being an investment, but it got me to thinking about the difference between a casual gift to someone and a real gift. When we give someone a real gift, a part of us is attached—we’ve invested something of ourselves in the present. My parents had invested more money than they could afford to give me something I really wanted. Only looking back now, do I see that, though. Then, I only knew that I got the present I wanted more than anything in the world.
When we give gifts, it doesn’t always turn out like that. Have you ever spent time picking out just the right gift? Agonizing over the color or style, maybe even spending too much? Only later to discover that gift in the recipient’s yard sale. Hurts, doesn’t it? I wonder how God, the Supreme Giver, feels. Do we get it when we see a baby laugh, or a beautiful sunset, or a flaming red maple tree, or snow falling softly and blanketing the countryside? These are all gifts from the Creator of the universe who loves to bestow gifts upon us. Not only does He want us to enjoy what He gives us, but He also wants to offer Himself to us. And He did just that in the form of His Son. So, as the Christmas season approaches, let’s remember God’s gift of His Son and share Him with others.
USA Today Best Selling author Patricia Bradley is a Selah and Reader’s Choice Award winner, and a Carol and Daphne du Maurier award finalist.
She and her two cats call Northeast Mississippi home--the South is also where she sets most of her books. Her seventeen novels include Heartwarming’s Matthew’s Choice and The Christmas Campaign, and four romantic suspense series: The Logan Point series, the Memphis Cold Case Novels, the Natchez Trace Park Rangers, and the Pearl River Series. Fatal Witness, the second book in the Pearl River series set in the Cumberland Plateau area above Chattanooga releases February 6, 2024.
Bradley is a popular teacher at writing conference and has been the keynote speaker at several. When she has time, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.
You can connect with her at:
Website https://ptbradley.com/
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What a great memory, and how wonderful that you can truly appreciate what your parents did to give you that gift. And thanks for the reminder of the investment the Giver makes in us.
Amen. What a timely reminder.
Thanks for being here today, Pat. I love your take on the Greatest Gift.