Gifts

“Every good and perfect gift is from above.” James 1:17

I believe God wrote that verse because He knew I was going to have to refer to it a lot once I married Toby. I love my husband, but the gift giving thing he just doesn’t quite have down yet.

Before we got married, Toby was so romantic. He would write me letters and they were so sweet. The only gift he bought for me before we got married was a necklace, a forget-me-not flower, small and dainty. He said that since he was going over seas for a while he wanted me to have something to remember him. I must say, I bought it, hook, line and sinker! I was in love and couldn’t wait for him to come back and marry me.

After we got married, for a short time, there was still romance, no gifts really, but Toby would leave me notes on the table in the mornings before he went to work, or when he came home for lunch, sweet little notes that were reminders of how much he loved me.
I was so homesick and lonely so one day he brought home a little puppy that someone had dropped off at the shop. It was tiny and had not been weaned, so I had to bottle feed it and once again I knew that Toby was the best gift giver around. It was absolutely the perfect gift for me at the time.

Little did I know that my wonderful husband, was not the perfect gift giver I thought he was. I began getting things like sheets for Christmas, pots and pans, (which I didn’t ask for), blenders, one year I even got towels! Towels, can you imagine!!! That was just the beginning of a long line of somewhat, shall I say, ‘unique’ gifts that I received from my husband.

One year we were at the beach with 2 other couples and my birthday, being in June, happened to fall on one of the days we were there. My friends and Toby decided to celebrate my birthday. They had a cake, some gifts and then I got to Toby’s gift. It was in a bag from Alvin’s Island, so I opened up the bag and there were 3 t-shirts. He got them from the 3 for $10 dollar rack. I couldn’t believe my eyes, for one thing, I very rarely wear a t-shirt, for another thing, 3 for $10, is not exactly the gift I was looking for, and last, but certainly not least, was what they said. It pains me to this day to repeat what was on the shirts, but here goes… “What part of NO don’t you understand!”, “#1 MOM,” and the last one was just a gulf shores t-shirt I think. By the time I read the first two, I couldn’t even see the last one. I was horrified!!! I couldn’t even talk. My friends were just as horrified as I was, but couldn’t even look at me. We all knew I was on the verge…of tears, anger, and was embarrassed. I couldn’t even talk to Toby. Later when we got home, the shirts, never on my body, were put into a donation sack.

You would think that would be the climax of the bad gifts, but there are so many more. One day for my birthday I got a weed-eater, gas powered, which is so heavy I can’t even use it. There were tool boxes, wheel barrels, and one year, I opened up a box and pulled out an owl, you know a small stuffed owl that had a graduation cap on it that had the year on it. (It was not the year I graduated). As I was pulling it out, I prayed, please dear God, let there be something else in this box, please…please. Luckily there was, a pair of earrings.

Thankfully, Amber got old enough to help with the gifts. She became my ally and I would tell here specifically what I wanted. One year I wanted a digital camera and she knew exactly which one I wanted. Later, she went with her dad to get it and she said they were in Best Buy and the line was so long and Toby looked at her and said, “I’m not standing in this line, I will get it later,” and Amber looked at him and said “Daddy, it’s Dec. 23., Mom wants this camera and we are going to stay in line till we get it.” He did. Another time they were walking in the mall and he passed the dollar store and said “let’s go in there and look for your mom”, she told him that there was nothing in the dollar store that I wanted for Christmas. Later she confided in me that she didn’t know how I did it, how I managed to put up with his shopping. I told her, I had learned over the years to just not take him, and to be very specific in what I wanted.

In saying all this I would be neglect if I didn’t say that through the years there have been a few surprises. I got a really nice necklace one year that was a total surprise and a ring another time. More recently he gave me Isabel, my sweet puppy, so he has on occasion redeemed himself.

I know why God gave us the perfect gift. He knew nothing on earth could compare to what He gave us, His Son, His love and His grace. So while my husband is still learning, God in His ultimate wisdom knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt, “every good and perfect gift” would come from Him. I for one am so thankful for that, and I believe no matter what gift Toby does or doesn’t give me, nothing can ever compare to the “perfect gift” God has already given me.