Refill with Randy – Embrace the joy of giving gifts this Christmas season

By Randy LeBaron

Good morning! Grab your favorite cup. Fill it up.

And let’s start this week right… TOGETHER!!!

Long before becoming a Christian, or a pastor for that matter, I still looked forward to celebrating Christmas with great anticipation as most young children do. I found that my family’s traditions enhanced the time leading up to December 25th and added to my excitement for the day. I look back now with nostalgia at that time of my life even as I realize that Christmas has taken on a new meaning for me now. One thing that has stayed the same though is the elation I experience every year at this time.

Growing up I would say that my primary focus, as far as Christmas was concerned, was on getting gifts. I didn’t know a lot about Jesus back then but you had better believe that I was on good terms with Old Saint Nick. He was making a list and checking it twice and I was doing my best to be on my best behavior and not fight with my sister. I knew he was real because every year, all through the month of December, my parents would wrap presents and place them under the tree but then, come Christmas morning, we would always find new gifts with the familiar tag, “From Santa”.

It was fun picking up and shaking all of the packages that had been laid out beforehand, in an attempt to guess what they could be, but the “Santa” presents were special because they always seemed to be bigger or better than the others—something that I had really wanted. I mean it was fine if my folks wanted to give me socks or some generic version of a toy, like when I asked for a transformer and instead I got a Gobot, but when it came to Santa (aka my Grandparents as I found out when I was older) my expectations were much higher because year in and year out these always turned out to be the most amazing gifts. I remember receiving things like my first BMX Bike, a tape recorder (you know the one—it was a black rectangle that laid flat and chewed up every other cassette that you placed in it), and even my very own TV. Sure, it was B&W with only a 13” inch screen but it was mine!

Every year I was like the boy from the movie “A Christmas Story” who, after believing he had already unwrapped all of his presents, was surprised to find out that his father had saved the best for last—his very own Red Rider, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle. Now fast forward 40-plus years and learning the true meaning of Christmas (It’s all about Jesus!), and forming new traditions with my own family, things have changed. The emphasis I had always placed on “getting” gifts has now been replaced with the joy of “giving” them.  Some things are still the same though.

I still read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol every year without fail. I still love watching all of the movies and television specials dedicated to this season like: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf, The Muppets Christmas Carol, Home Alone, The Santa Claus, Die Hard, and It’s a Wonderful Life. I still love belting out classics carols, like Jingle Bells or Christmas in Hollis, whether I am in the shower, my car, or even just walking down the aisle at Walmart. And I still believe that the best things come when we least expect it.

To that end, over 2,000 years ago there were shepherds in a field watching over their flocks when all of a sudden an angel appeared to them and proclaimed these words, later made famous by Linus Van Pelt, “for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Better than a BB Gun, the latest form of technology, or anything else this world has to offer—when they least expected it they were given the greatest gift.

I hope that you will be just as surprised and blessed this Christmas!

See you in two weeks!

Pastor Randy