The Best Gifts
Timing is everything.
Who remembers the Sears Wish book?
I’m pretty sure I drooled over this very catalog when I was eleven.
I dog-eared pages, wrote lists, and imagined getting every single thing I desired from that wonderful Wish Book.
Christmas in 1976 wasn’t like Christmas today.
My family lived on a tight budget. Credit? No way.
Today we live in a world where stuff is plentiful—whether or not it’s affordable in the moment.
Even though this wish book evokes memories of childhood desire, I’m glad I didn’t receive all the treasures I wanted.
I’m glad my parents carefully chose gifts for me and didn’t stack boxes to the ceiling, feeding the greed monster that lives in all of us.
I’m glad God doesn’t give me everything I want either, such as:
Relationships I thought I wanted when I was young. (I’m so thankful for the husband he gave me.)
Stuff I thought I couldn’t live without. (My friends had some of that stuff, and they were no happier for it.)
As an adult, I wanted children right after I got married. (I’m so glad we waited five years. We were so young—19 and 20.)
Time always reveals the blessing of a “no” or “wait” answer to my prayers.
I wanted to write a book when I was in the thick of mothering.
I felt God say, “Wait. I’ll tell you when to write.”
So I waited.
I dog-eared the page and set that wish aside.
The Lord is faithful, and He’s taken me on a winding road to publication—certainly not the one I had planned for myself.
This Christmas, I am thankful for His timing and The Grace Writers, a debut novel I’ve wished for since I was eleven years old.
What are you wishing and waiting for this Christmas? May you trust the One who sent His Son—offering the gift of eternal and abundant life to anyone who trusts in Him.
He only gives good gifts!
Merry Christmas!