The Fun of the Yankee Swap

Okay, so I feel that I have been a little too serious lately on Christmas giving……

Last night my local Toastmasters held its Holiday Party. We had to bring a Yankee Swap gift that was odd, fun, and something that we definitely wanted to regift. We turned this into an amusing table topics discussion.

Well, I tell you, I originally opened a little clock radio quite nice, definitely a keeper. But no…… My eyes got greedy and I saw the lovely vase that someone else had and swapped it. For those who don’t know me, I love flowers, so I thought to myself, Wahoo! I scored. Yeah that cockiness was short-lived as someone opened their gift and swapped with me. You want to know what I got! I received a set of four miniature ceramic non-matching cowboy boots. What a hoot! We all laughed. I tried to hawk like an auctioneer telling folks they would just love to have this one of a kind item. We had so much fun. The spirit of this is to not take life seriously and enjoy the moment.

What fun and outlandish Christmas grab gifts have you received?

Giving with Heart

You know I was in a toy store the other day, to pick up a gift for our church’s giving tree. The giving tree grants holiday gifts to children in need. As I was trying to decide between a couple of items for a little girl, I asked woman who I was in conversation with what she thought about this present or that. Her answer alarmed me, "For a giving tree? I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on it? Wow! I thought, if we are giving a gift shouldn’t it be from the heart. Why participate in charitable giving to anybody and give them something that you would not want to receive.

That is why so many of us are royally disappointed with Yankee swaps, Kris Kringles, and holiday gift exchanges. We often buy the gag gift or something we definitely wouldn’t want to get as a gift and feel smug that we participated in the annual event.

This year, give with your heart, with love and with joy!

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 (New International Version)