Someone deserves attribution for this but I have no idea of whom to blame.
Somewhere in our (Moran family) past we started a tradition. It consisted of exchanging names with our kids and their significant others (started as boy friend and girl friends and now spouses).
The assignment is to find a gift that represents the other person. No Target gift cards, no video games just a little ingenuity and thoughtfulness. It is hard to describe the boundaries or perimeters of these gifts. They’ve ranged from original works of art to rocks with Scripture verses on them.
Last year my oldest daughter gave me a written note that was wrapped around her High School Basketball letter. From early on in her life she shared my love of basketball. It was a joy to follow and coach her thru those years. Suddenly as she left high school our relationship deteriorated and she swerved wildly away from the spiritual journey she was pursuing in high school.
The pain of those year is still subsiding but the gift of the letter was her way of sharing her commitment to regain what we had lost. That moment on Christmas morning was a tearfilled hugfest, just what Jesus wants on his birthday.
Give it a try. Exchange names and start early, if you have very many people you’ll find that it takes a while to get through everyone but this is what Christmas was meant to be.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Stephanie Duncan // Dec 4, 2007 at 8:59 am
I have to tell you Roy, that after service on Sunday, my son said that he wants to do this. Especially with the way things have been with our daughter, I think he was really thinking of her. I think we are going to give it a shot. Thanks for passing on the idea of “Found Gifts.”
2 E Mo // Dec 5, 2007 at 2:48 am
Bryan & Shayla did this last year and I am going to do it this year. So far I have found that it can be difficult to figure out the gift, yet so exciting once you do! Thanks for sharing this idea.
3 Justin // Jan 23, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I think Dawn mentioned to you that we did found gifts this year. It was a very cool and powerful experience for us. I, being a complete computer dork made Dawn a clip art doc with pictures of things that I felt represented her and us and our relationship. She made me this shelf with different symbols on it for the things that represent me. I don’t know if this is totally in the spirit of “found” gifts, but they were relatively no cost and took a lot of thought. Thanks for sharing about your family and helping to have ours grow closer.
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