When Amy was three or four Terry took her to Wal-Mart in hopes to figure out what she really wanted for Christmas. As they neared the toy aisle he said, “Show me some things you want for Christmas,”.

As they made their way down every aisle she said “I want this and this and this and this….”. He looked at her and said, “So, you want it all!”

“Yes daddy. I want everything” she replied.

Go ahead and laugh. I certainly did, especially to hear him tell the story with his expressions and eye rolls! It’s funny.

But pause with me for a minute and think, don’t we do the same thing to God? We just tell him everything we want and then expect it show up wrapped in a neat package waiting under the Christmas tree.

But like Amy, we can’t have it all. We don’t get everything we want. Sometimes we don’t get what we want at all. What happens then?

We whine and complain. We’re disappointed and discouraged. We don’t understand the gift because we fail to see the heart of the giver.

The giver of gifts knows far more than we do about what we need. He even knows what we want. He decides what’s best for us. Like Amy some things she wanted may not have been age appropriate. She may need time to grow and mature before some gifts were given. Some things may bring harm to her or others.  Those would also not be a good idea for the giver.  Then there are the things she wanted that just wouldn’t be good gifts at all.

The thing about the giver is they survey the value of the gift.  They determine if the gift is  worth the price.  The giver also determines if the receiver is ready for the gift or if they need more time to learn and grow.

Like Amy, I would venture to say most of us, if not all of us, want it all.  We want everything.  The problem is we’re not ready for everything and we must be willing to receive what the giver determines is best for us.