I smiled as I watched my son do his best to guess what a package contained. He shook it, noticing its sound. He took note of its size. He thought through everything that could possibly fit that description—or so he thought. I know he’ll be surprised when he unwraps the present and sees what is really inside.
Watching him unwrap that gift got me thinking about unwrapping the gifts God has given us in our children. Each one of them is designed for a purpose and gifted in different ways—yet sometimes the marvelous way they’re designed is buried under a lot of wrapping paper that makes their unique gifts hard to recognize.
As a child, I doggedly wanted my way, day after day, testing my mom’s patience with my strong will. That same strong will turned out to be a gift when yielded to God and serving Him, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t seem like a gift when I tried to flush her child training book down the toilet in an attempt to destroy it. My mom did a lot of hard training before my strong will could actually be a gift instead of a nuisance. I’m glad she looked not at who I was, but at who I could be.
I recently listened to a talk by Carol Barnier titled “Don’t Miss the Gift in This Child.” As you might guess from the title, she encouraged listeners to remember that our children are truly gifts from the Lord. I hope you’ll join me in making that title a prayer this Christmas season. As we see gifts around us, may we remember our children are gifts too and ask God for eyes to see the unique way He’s gifted them.
I’m a sinner saved by grace through Jesus Christ. I’m also a writer—I’ve been writing ever since I could hold a pen. I… 
