If you are a celebrator of Christmas, you know exactly what I mean when I ask, “So… how was your Christmas?”

You would correctly assume I am asking whether you were able to get in a little rest and relaxation time, whether you got together with family, whether you were able to feast on a bounteous table laden with sinfully rich food, whether you celebrated Christ’s birth at a worship service of your choice, whether you watched one of the myriad traditional Christmas movies out there (our family’s tradition, incidentally, is Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed).  I might also be asking whether you engaged in sledding, skiing, snowshoeing, or any other winter sports.

But back when I was a kid 400 years ago, the “how was your Christmas” question meant only one thing. It meant, “WHAT PRESENTS DID YOU GET?” Most of the time, kids didn’t bother with subtleties. They just cut to the chase and straight up asked, “WHADJA GET?”.

It was a question my friends ALWAYS hit me with. It was also a question that inevitably made me very uncomfortable. I don’t want to give you the false impression that I grew up dirt poor and was lucky to have a painted rock in my Christmas stocking. But with five kids and a mom who didn’t work outside the home, Christmas presents in our house were never extravagant. 

As a result, I think all five of us Brown kids felt lucky that we received something on Christmas morning. We were trained by experience to focus our attention more on the intangible “gifts” of the season… like, for example, the gift of a week off of school. 

That might be why today I am so very, very bad at asking for things.

In fact, I am the WORST. 

The requests begin just before Thanksgiving. At first, they are gentle nudgings; “Russell?  I need a Christmas list from you!”

A couple of weeks go by, and I have produced NOTHING. Then the requests begin to take on an edge; “Hello? Honey? Where is that Christmas list I’ve been asking you for?

My excuses are all lame and half-hearted. Things like, “Oh! Yeah! That’s right! Let me get to work on that,” or, “WHAT? Is it that time again ALREADY?”

Some members of our family like to have very precise, very detailed lists of Christmas gift requests. They especially love it when you can include a screen shot of the item, complete with color, size, availability, and sleeve length. 

And honestly, I try. I think. I ruminate. I scratch my head until it bleeds. But most of the time I come up with zilch. Bupkis. Nada.

I mean, honestly, what do I need? I have food. I have shelter. I have a beautiful, loving, wise, compassionate spouse. I (mostly) have my health. I have children and grandchildren who continually amaze me with their brains, spirits, and senses of humor. I have siblings I love and stay in regular touch with. I live in a country that – though we squabble internally with each other too often and are too mistrustful of our leaders – is still sought out as a place of renewal and hope. 

And at the very top of the list of things I already have is the love of a God who demonstrated that unconditional love by putting on skin, walking this earth, living this life, feeling this pain, celebrating this joy, dying this death, and then rising to eternal life. 

So, is it any wonder I struggle to answer the “What do you want?” question?

I already have WAY more than I need and certainly more than I deserve.

… but now that I think of it, that sweet 12-string Martin guitar in the shop down the street would make an AWESOME addition to the collection.

Maybe next year.

Abundant blessings;