Monday's Musings: Early Returns

Early Returns

As I sat in my car this weekend amidst the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I couldn’t help but think of “gifts” that I have already received but would like to return.

1. The gift of traffic

I sat in traffic for 10 minutes and went 1 car length. And no, it wasn’t a semi, it was a normal little car’s length. I think Santa’s Elves should give hot coco, apple cider, and stocking stuffers on every corner to cars as they wait. Is that really too much to ask?

2. The gift of crazy shoppers

If you went out on Black Friday- you know exactly what I mean. Super-nice soccer moms were behind us in line outside Target, but as soon as someone tried to cut, you would have thought they were bouncers for the President.

3. The gift of lines

There comes a point half-way through December that I think to myself, “Holly- do we need food badly enough that it’s worth waiting in line for 45 minutes?”
You might start praying for my husband in a few days… usually avoiding the line ends up winning over food, and we just eat canned goods for 14 days.

4. The gift of Wal-Mart

Let’s be honest. I have a love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart. I can’t live with it, but I can’t live without it. It’s the eternal struggle.

 

 

Could I please return the above gifts on an exchange receipt? Instead I’d like cookies delivered to my car, shoppers singing Christmas carols while they shop,  immediate check-out ability, and a Wal-Mart that isn’t so… Wal-Mart.

 

 

 

And yet, then I think about the friends’ who have dearly loved family members battling cancer this month. The parents’ who aren’t able to buy gifts for their children this Christmas. The friends’ who don’t have anyone to share Christmas with. The families where someone won’t be home for Christmas. The friends’ who don’t have the hope that Christ alone can bring as we celebrate His birth.

Their “Return” gifts look different than mine…and suddenly, mine don’t seem quite so bad. Traffic, crazy shoppers, lines, and even Wal-Mart are reminders that for this year, this Christmas, I have much to be thankful for because if those are all the “gifts” I would like to return, then I am truly blessed indeed.

A friend of mine said it this way on Friday, “You never know, just by looking at a person, what battle they are facing or what struggle they are experiencing.”

So as you walk through Wal-Mart, drive through traffic, even stand in line with crazy shoppers, remember- we all have circumstances we would “Return” if only it worked that way.

Have some grace. Give some mercy.

And most of all, share the Hope- Christ was born. The Savior did come. Jesus Christ, Son of God, died for our sin, He took our punishment for sin, but then He gloriously rose from the dead so we can have eternal life through Him. If only we believe and accept.

 

So friends, I remind you of the lesson that I was reminded of:

 

Share the gifts of grace and mercy, as well as the hope of salvation,

for those gifts will never make it on anyone’s “Return” list.