I have always loved Christmas, in fact, the entire two-month span beginning November 1st. When I was a little girl, we didn’t have the big shindigs that are so commonplace today. If you could step back and peek into the looking glass you’d see a tree, decorated simply, with handmade crafts I’d made in elementary school. You’d see ancient garland from the 50’s, and simple traditions. You’d see a 4 ½ foot tree that sat on top of the wooden console tv, sitting right in front of the window to give the illusion from the outside of the house that it was 9 feet tall. You’d see the giant ball of plastic mistletoe, and the glass candy dish full of grandma-candy, as my husband so affectionately calls it.As a child, I remember getting one big present resting against the tv, and under the tree were the rest of the presents. One present was from my grandmother, and the rest were from Santa. Oddly, Santa’s presents were wrapped and under the tree at least a week before Christmas; they didn’t just arrive Christmas Eve. In front of the tree, on top of the white linen sheet arranged to look like “snow” there was a 4-inch manger scene, and under the bottom branches, the presents were arranged carefully, to make it seem as if there were more of them than there really were. If you moved ANY of them, my grandmother knew, and she would question you, rap your knuckles and you wouldn’t dare touch them again.

I remember the “big” presents so clearly. One year there was a bike. One year it was a 12-inch black and white tv with an antenna and a knob to change the channels. You know, where you had to actually get up to change the channel. It took up 1/3 of my dresser top, and sat on top of a doily. My freshman year in college, it was a tennis racquet, so I could take a tennis class to fill the PE requirement the following semester.

In today’s standards, those “big” gifts would be just one of the small gifts that children receive. I’m not going to tell you about how we overindulge the children of today, or how I wish we could go back to just getting one big gift and several small gifts under the tree. Instead, I’m going to tell you about one year in particular.

I was about 11. The presents were all around the tree, and the temptation to peek at them was overwhelming. I had the bright idea that I would sneak downstairs one evening after everyone went to bed, and open a present or two to just peek at the contents. I would then wrap them back up and place them gingerly back in their home. No one would ever know. One night, I did have that prime opportunity. I snuck downstairs and carefully peeled back one edge of tape, and then another. I slid the box out of the wrapping, and opened it up. Earrings! An entire set! They were costume button earrings, 5 pairs, black enamel and gold-tone; stars, hearts, ovals, squares, and one funky geometric pair! Hee hee hee! This is so fun! I carefully slid that back in the package, and taped it back up. Nice job retaping, if I do say so myself! I’d even taped the parts that had wrapping paper stuck to them back in their original spots. Now that took some effort. Next, I opened another box – a pair of soft gray gloves, knit like a sweater! Mmmm, toasty! There was one other gift, so I opened it, then wrapped those two back and looked at the job one last time – yep, no one would know, and I snuck back upstairs and hopped into bed.

When Christmas morning came around, instead of the joy I normally had, it was replaced with another emotion: sadness. Fake joy, and false happiness. When it was my turn to open presents, I had to pretend I didn’t know what was inside, and then pretend to be happy once I opened it. Of course, I still enjoyed my presents, but the surprise element was gone. I don’t know if my grandmother ever found out that I opened them early, but that one Christmas changed my entire perspective on gift opening. That was the first and ONLY year I have ever opened a present early. I don’t shake the box. I don’t sniff the box. In fact, my husband and children once wrapped a birthday present entirely in stickie notes because we were out of tape, and they knew that it would HAVE to be a surprise.

I tell you this because lately, my life feels a bit like one big wrapped present. I have my newest manuscript sent off to an agent. My travel agency is getting its feet on the ground. It’s not perfect – it still needs God’s daily guidance and coverage, but it’s getting there. My 31 business is going well, and I’m 8 days away from my last day at my day job. I feel as if God’s got this giant gift-wrapped package just waiting for me. It’s hard to not want to pull things ahead of their intended time. It’s hard to be patient and not ask God for a sneak peek inside the box. Granted, I don’t know what’s inside. Is it a publishing home? An explosion of 31 business? Enough travel business to put food on the table for months? It’s so hard to be patient, but I’ve been down that road once before. Unwrapping a gift before it’s time is so disappointing. I know that holding off just a few more days, or a few more weeks, or until it’s time for me to see the gift that he has, will be so much more worth it. So I’ll be patient, even though I don’t want to be. I’ll be thankful for what I have, and not count chickens before they hatch. And I will consider each day as its own gift-wrapped package, ready for unwrapping each morning. Sometimes it’s a small present, sometimes it’s a big one. All worthy of opening in due time.

The next time you’re tempted to pull things ahead of their time, or speed things up, just think of it as a big gift-wrapped box that God himself wrapped for you, and wants you to wait until the right morning to open it up. Half of the joy of giving someone a present is watching their face light up when they open it. Don’t steal that moment from God, because He wants to delight in us as much as we want to delight in Him. Yes, it’s hard to wait. But you can do it! Just remember… no peeking. 😉

XOXO,
Karen