"The Biggest Gift of All!"

"The Biggest Gift of All!"

By Bob Perks

"What happened to it?," the child asked.

"What happened to what?" someone replied.

"My gift for Mom and Dad. It was the smallest and it
got lost," he sadly replied.

It happens that way. It seems that when it comes to
gift giving we feel the need to out do each other. The
bigger the box, the more money we spend, the more
love expressed.

It's simply not true. It's all a lie and we know it.

"Oh, you didn't have to..."

Yes they did. The world demands it of us. You know
you would have felt rejected, ignored and overlooked
if they didn't give you something.

"I have to get a gift for Joe. He gave me something
last year."

"I'm only sending cards to people who sent them
to me."

How sad. Gift giving has become a matching game.
Or worst yet, a competition.

So it was on this Christmas morning.

"I can't believe all of the presents!" someone said.

"This is even more than last year!" the oldest child
confirmed.

"I guess Santa out did himself this year," Dad said.

"You must have been really good!" said Mom.

"Wait before you open them, let's get a picture of it all.
We can compare it to last year's gifts," said Dad.

Then the reds and greens of fancy Christmas paper flew
across the room. The bows and ribbons were crushed
among the efforts to make get to the gifts.

The youngest child was lost at times in the rush to find
his own Santa's treasures but managed to survive somehow.

"Don't forget the gifts we got for each other!" one child yelled.

The youngest child stopped what he was doing. He
wanted to watch his parents when they opened his special gift.

But it was no where to be found.

"What happened to it?," the child asked.

"What happened to what?" someone replied.

"My gift for Mom and Dad. It was the smallest and it got lost,"
he sadly replied.

The others were too busy to help him find it. They already
began clearing away the paper and he feared they had
tossed it in the garbage.

"You need to get bigger gifts. You don't lose big gifts," his
older sister said laughing.

"But it was the biggest gift of all," the child replied.

He sat down in frustration and began to cry.

"Is this it?" his brother asked as he held the little box in his
hand. "I almost stepped on it."

"That's the biggest gift of all?" the sister said mockingly.

"What a joke!"

"It is! It is!" he shouted back. "You'll see!"

Then, grabbing it from his brother's hand he straightened
out the bow and handed it to Mom.

"Daddy, come here. This is for you, too," he said while sniffling
away his tears.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to see what he had given.

Perhaps just out of curiosity, maybe just to laugh.

Carefully Mom unwrapped the gift and opened the box.

"Oh, my!" she said as she slowly sat down on the couch.

"What? What is it?" someone said.

Then Dad sat down next to her to share the special moment.

"Oh, I see." he said. Looking at his wife he humbly said, "It is
indeed the biggest gift."

Then Mom reached in, pulled out the gift and placed it on her hand.

It was the Christ Child in the cradle.

Dad glanced over to look at their manger now buried beneath
the all too many gifts.

"Clear away those things," he asked of his oldest child.

The dimly lit star attached to the manger shown down on the
spot where the Christ Child would normally be.

"But he took it from..." his sister began to say until Mom
interrupted her.

"He took it from the story of Christmas. The real reason we should be celebrating," she said.

The small child was standing next to the tree. The white lights
sparkled off the warm streams of tears that ran down his face.

Quietly he explained..."Every year we think about how to give the
biggest gift. I thought that this year I would give the best gift anyone
could ever give. The pastor at Bible school asked us to think about
the greatest gift of all. Then I thought about Jesus and knew that I
could not ever out give God. So my gift to you and Dad was the
Biggest gift of all...ever!"

Suddenly it was silent. Mom glanced around the room and humbly
said, "I am ashamed. We had forgotten the meaning of it all."

Then motioning to her son she said, "Come here. You were right.
The Littlest One was indeed the Biggest Gift of all!"

"I wish you enough!"

J

Bob Perks

I encourage you to share my stories but
I do ask that you keep my name and contact
information with my work.

P.O. Box 1702

Shavertown, Pa. 18708

Contact Bob 2believe@comcast.net

"I Wish You enough!"
2001 Bob Perks

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear
much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."