Some friends gave us a nicely wrapped Christmas gift last week.  When we returned home that evening, I was about to open the gift when it dawned on me that because Drake and I decided not to exchange gifts this year, we weren’t going to have anything to open on Christmas morning.  So, in light of this revelation, we chose to delay opening that gift, and put it under our Christmas tree to be unwrapped on the morn set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

What we did not realize, when we placed that single gift under our noble fir, was the number of people who would choose to bless us this season with gifts.  By the time Christmas morning rolled around, our tree was bursting with tangible expressions of love.  We were overwhelmed.

But what amazed us even more when we opened these gifts, was the extravagance by which we have been loved. These were not just “pick something off the shelf so we have something to give” gifts, these were thoughtful, meaningful, reflective, generous expressions of solidarity, understanding, and care.  As tears streamed down our faces, we were moved by the words people wrote, the amount of time invested on our behalf, the creativity, the insight into our needs, and the genuine compassion poured over us.

Being lavished with love, as we have been, sends me to my knees before our Father asking, “Who are we, that so many people would be mindful of us?”

My heart is filled with gratitude.