The "Dad-Gift"

My dad started this a long time ago. It's called "the dad-gift" by me and my 2 brothers (John and Jim). My mom does most of the Christmas shopping, and she is a thoughtful, generous gift-giver. But one Christmas a long time ago (maybe 15 years or so I'd guess), my dad went out and bought the 3 of us kids a gift without telling my mom and produced them on Christmas morning. It was henceforth known as "the dad gift." And each year he continued. The gift is sometimes big, sometimes small, but always VERY anticipated. We all love it.

I think we love it just because it's from our dad. A dad just carries a unique love and a unique authority in the lives of his children. And these gifts essentially say to all of us "I love you. I know you. I want you to receive this as a piece of MY heart toward you."

This year, my dad bought us watches. Here's mine.

John got a watch as well, but my brother Jim received a Zen-alarm-clock. (No I don't know exactly what that is). But if you knew Jim, you'd know this was appropriate for him.

Matthew 7:11 says "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

I haven't worn a watch in at least 2 years. The batteries in both my watches died in the same week and I've just never replaced them. So my dad getting me a watch made me feel known - by either him or God or both at once.

Bill decided about a month before Christmas that he saw such love and goodness in "the dad gift" tradition in our family that he wanted to adopt it for our kids. So here are Andrew and Luke's first dad-gifts:

The dad-gifts that are around my house always remind me that my earthly dad knows and loves me. And it also reminds me that, if I ask, God has gifts in mind for me too.