Monday, Dec 23

Scriptures: James 1:17 (NIV) – “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Message: My husband’s gift-choosing era ended several years ago. Even before his diagnosis with dementia, he had stopped caring about birthdays and anniversaries, much less Christmas. Neither my kids nor I expected gifts from him anymore, although he would happily go along if our oldest daughter, Kristen, took him to buy a gift for me.

One day this past December, Kristen came to pick up her Dad for their Christmas shopping trip. Before leaving, he asked whose name he had drawn this year in our family gift exchange. “Melanie’s, but I already bought her a present from you,” I told him. After all, I’d been taking care of most of his shopping for years. How did he even remember the gift exchange? “Oh, OK,” he responded, and Kristen and I thought that was the end of it.

What happened next surprised us all. When they got to Target, he insisted on selecting a gift for Melanie. “What do you want to get her, Dad?” Kristen asked, expecting that, as usual, he would have no idea. “A robe.” He answered.

Everyone in our family knows Melanie loves robes – in fact, she spent most of her high school years wearing her favorite robe over her pajamas, her clothes, or whatever else she had on. But we didn’t expect my husband, Tom, to remember that.

Not only did he remember her love for robes, but he remembered that she loves soft, plushy ones. Kristen reported that he went through the entire rack, running every robe between his fingers and settling only for the very softest.

That Christmas, Melanie got two presents from her Dad: the one I picked from her Christmas list and the supersoft robe he selected himself. You can guess which one meant the most. No one knew that Christmas 2023 would be Tom’s final Christmas on earth. But I’m pretty sure God knew.

These days, she has no more tender hugs from her Dad. But she does have his final, loving gift to wrap herself in anytime she wants. And I call that a good and perfect gift.

Prayer: God, as we choose gifts for one another this year, help us remember Your gift of love in Your Son, Jesus Christ. May our giving always reflect You. Amen.

Marti Pieper
Seneca Baptist Church, Seneca, South Carolina