The Gift

My wife is wonderful. She’s beautiful. She’s sexy. She’s smart. She’s sweet, and she has a great love for others, especially her family. These are all true, and I tell her all the time. Especially the ones about being beautiful and sexy. And do you know what she says when I tell her? With humility and grace, she says, “Thank you.”  She doesn’t necessarily believe these things (she’s wrong), but she doesn’t deny them either because she recognizes that they are my gifts to her.  And she knows I believe them. Wholeheartedly.

 This was not always the case.  When were first married, she didn’t know how to handle so many compliments.  She’d answer with, “You have to say that” or “Come on, my hair looks awful today!”  Not anymore – just a simple “thank you”. She fully credits me for this change.  She says I taught her to accept compliments by understanding them as gifts – from me to her.  She’s since taught our girls this challenging skill as well – again crediting Dad.  And I’ll take that credit.  Not only is it right, but it feels good when our gifts are actually received. The gift is ultimately empowered by how it’s received. So, ladies, empower those gifts by taking them, appropriately – with grace and humility! It will be very rewarding to you, as well as the ones who offer them!

This was written a few days before Christmas – a time many of you will be giving presents and looking for that magical and exciting response – do they love it? It’s the best part of the giving, isn’t it?

 I’d like to finish this article with something even more important. Another gift was given to us all – after all, it is Christmas Day. And Christmas wouldn’t be something we observe, whether for its true meaning or all the other reasons, if we didn’t have a Savior’s birth to recognize.  He is our gift from the ultimate Giver. Hope you’ve opened and accepted it on this most special of days.