The ENTIRE list

When I was a child my siblings and I would anxiously await the arrival of the Sears toy catalogue in the mail each year. We would pore over the pages and mark the items we thought we'd like to have with our initial. Over the years our methods of creating and sharing our wish lists have changed, but it's still something we do each year. Sometimes I would purchase something from a family member's wish list, and other years I would come up with an idea on my own. I never expected to receive everything that was on my wish list, but I always received at least a couple of the things I had asked for. My husband and I got married in August 2001, and a few months later I gave him my Christmas wish list. I thought it would be helpful for him to have a few suggestions of things I would like to have. That Christmas morning I was blown away by how many gifts were under our tree for me. As I began opening them, I discovered that my husband had bought me every single thing I had listed on my wish list - from a stock pot to ruby earrings. I felt incredibly loved and cherished, but I was also overwhelmed thinking about how much money he must have spent. I discovered that we had a miscommunication about the concept of a wish list. He had no idea I was only hoping to receive a couple of the things on my list. Because I am the one who pays our bills and manages our budget, he handed me all the receipts shortly after we exchanged our gifts. This only intensified my concern that he had spent far too much money.

As I shared what happened with a colleague at work who had been married for more than 20 years, she encouraged me to just enjoy it. She wisely predicted that this probably wouldn't happen in the future once we had kids. Her prediction was very accurate. The last few years I've received things like a new turtleneck or new dish towels from my husband at Christmas. If I could go back in time, I wish I had just given my husband a big hug and kiss and not said anything about how much he spent. I am not the only person who has had a similar response because I have heard others say things like "you shouldn't have" or "I don't deserve this" or "it's just too much" when receiving a gift. It often helps to put oneself in the other person's shoes. I doubt any of us would want to hear any of those statements in response to a gift we have given. We just hope the person will enjoy the gift and see that it is given in love. Ultimately we know that every gift that we receive is truly from our Heavenly Father who loves us more than we can possibly fathom. "All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change." (James 1:17)