Gift Giving

I have been thinking about gift giving this Christmas season. I was well pleased with the gifts I gave this year, which isn't always the case. Sometimes the gift is chosen in last minute desperation. This year they seemed like perfect choices to me...exactly what they asked for or something that perfectly reflected and encourgaged who they are. As they were opened I got different reactions. Some were genuinely pleased and spent more than the passing, "Oh, thanks," with the gift. They went back to look at it or use it again. Some said, "Oh, thanks", put it back in the bag and went on. I have no idea if they ever got it out to look at or use again. Some I haven't heard from and didn't get to witness the opening. So, that was how it looked from my side of the gift. I was often happy, pleased, and sometimes saddened. Now, I think about the other side. How did I respond to the gifts I was given? I tried to show all the gratitude and joy I could even when suprised by the gift. I was, for the first time, this year way less interested in getting the gifts than in giving. My joy this year was in the giving...hmmm.
Then comes the BIG thinking. While driving hither and yon you have lots of time to think.
I know how excited and content I was with the gifts I was giving. I was also a little nervous at their reception. If in my tiny humanity, I felt these things, what must God have felt that first Christmas?
Surely he knew that he had the BEST gift. Surely he was content. Perhaps he was a little nervous about the reception...
How have you recieved the Gift? Did you accept it with tears of joy and then put it away? Did you only barely acknowledge it before moving on? Did you just ignore it all together?
Or, maybe, you received Him joyfully and turn to Him daily? Can you imagine the smile on God's face when we love the Gift and the Giver with our whole heart?
The Perfect Gift well received...that's Christmas!