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What Makes a Great Gift?

By Ryan, December 1, 2008

For my 15th birthday, my best friend and co-author of this blog, Justin, gave me a shirt that said “I live in my own little world... but it’s okay, they know me here.” I consider this to be one of the best gifts I ever got. As we start shopping for Christmas presents, I want to explain how to give a great gift.

1. Don’t give cash
Everyone loves getting cash for Christmas, but that doesn’t make it a great gift. The shirt that Justin gave me probably cost around $10. If he had given me a $10 bill for my birthday, I probably would have put it in my ever-empty lunch account, effectively making my birthday present be M&M’s, a Twix bar, a Gatorade, and a pizza. This is what happens with cash... it gets spent. Granted, in larger amounts, cash has a different effect. For example, I used a lot of money from graduation to buy a nice case for my laptop (though I deposited the rest in a savings account). But I’m aware that the bulk of my audience won’t be able to spend more than $50 on anyone, making cash a no-no.

2. Give something that your friend wouldn’t think of
It’s always nice to give someone what they asked for... but since when do people know what they want? The only time I remember staying content for a long time with a gift I specifically asked for was in 2005 when I got my iPod nano. If Justin had asked me what I wanted for my 15th birthday, I would not have asked for a shirt that would forever alter my personality. I’m not saying that Justin knew that the shirt would propel me into becoming a more outgoing person. But the gift still worked perfectly.

3. Give something that feels natural for you to give
For my birthday a few years ago, my grandpa gave me a tool kit. I appreciated the tool kit and I still use it frequently. But what if I had gotten it from Justin, and Grandpa had given me a funny t-shirt? Would I be any less grateful for either one? No. But fixin’ stuff is already something I associate with Grandpa, and I already associate Justin with laughter. Even if Justin had given me a tool kit, it would hardly ever remind me of him when I used it. And a shirt would hardly remind me of what a wonderful grandpa I have. So, in a sense, it’s good to be somewhat selfish when you go Christmas shopping... if you know what I mean.

Naturally, the best gift anyone can get is Jesus, and I don’t intend to take away from that fact by writing about how to give material goods. This post is strictly written from a relationship perspective. With that much being said, though, I hope that everyone can now give a gift that says “I love you” rather than simply “I thought of you.”

Labels: Challenges, Holiday, Relationships

{ Posted 5:39 PM | Comments: 1 | E-Mail Post | Edit Post | Top }

Angel of Light

By Ryan, March 18, 2007

March 15th was my 17th birthday. It was also the day my driver’s license expired. For my birthday, my aunt and uncle gave me an OSU shirt and a matching hat. The state of Texas gave me a ridiculous wait in line at the DMV only to be rejected because I don’t have $24 and verification of enrollment with me. Mom and Dad gave me a trip to Family Christian Stores to pick out some CDs I want. The state of Texas gave me a week of riding the bus to school.

Some gifts are better than others. Given the choice between a Falling Up CD and a week of sharing my ride to school with a bunch of midget freshmen, the hard part of the choice would be choosing between Dawn Escapes or Crashings. But what about anything of this world versus eternal life? Eternal life is the butt-kickin-est gift a person could ever receive. And you don’t have to make a special trip to Best Buy and Family Christian Stores to get it... or to give it, for that matter.

There are plenty of people out there who would love nothing more than to laugh at you for being a Christian. This group of people is at the Number 3 slot on the list of people who need prayer*. Take a hint and pray for them veraciously. Not everyone will soften up to you, but at least you can get them ready for someone else. And, in many scenarios, God will open the door for you to evangelize that person.

He might even help you figure where I came up with the title for this post.

Labels: Challenges, Holiday, Relationships

{ Posted 9:45 PM | Comments: 3 | E-Mail Post | Edit Post | Top }

Cowboys 38, Sooners 28

By Ryan, December 13, 2006

Ahh, one of* the greatest Christmas movies of all time.

In church today, we watched a scene from the movie Elf. The scene we watched depicted Will Ferrell’s character, “Buddy,” inside a New York City store preparing for Christmas. When Buddy hears word that Santa is coming to visit the store, he gets extremely excited. He knows the real Santa personally, so he can’t help but tell everyone how overjoyed he is to see him again.

Hold up, wait a minute, put a little tie-into-Christianity in it!

This man was absolutely nuts about seeing Santa! He was jump-up-and-down-and-scream crazy!

The only time I’ve ever gone that insane was in 7^th grade, when my belovéd Oklahoma State Cowboys downed the OU Sooners 38-28. Let me tell you, I was a nut job during that game, especially when OSU jumped ahead 35-6. Following the game, I danced in the street in front of my uncle’s house, spiking my football and shouting the final score for almost an hour.

The mention of the name Jesus does not incite these reactions anymore... if it ever did. He’s the greatest person ever to walk this sorry Earth... and He’s coming back again one day, possibly in my lifetime! This is more exciting than seeing Santa or watching Oklahoma State Cowboy domiNation. My youth minister’s wish seems to be that we will have as good of a relationship with God as Buddy did with Santa Claus and as I do with the stinkingest football team in the Big 12 (besides Baylor). When we think of Jesus’s second coming, we need to prepare.

The time to prepare has come.

Labels: Holiday, Relationships, Sports

{ Posted 9:02 PM | Comments: 1 | E-Mail Post | Edit Post | Top }

“Change of Plans, Boys!”

By Ryan, December 22, 2005

Isn’t it amazing how God can change even our best plans? I know from recent experience. I had many people that I was planning on giving computer-related gifts this Christmas. Then my main computer broke. I realized that I was reduced to practically nothing without the Internet at my fingertips. I had to take a “detour” to make some of the gifts, and there were other gifts that I had to completely skip. I couln’t post to my blog for over two weeks, which is a long time by my standards. So... how is this so significant? I must admit it’s made me understand how computer-oriented I am, that’s for sure. I’m lucky if I can check my e-mail, and it took over an hour just to make this wimpy little post! How fun is that?

Labels: Holiday

{ Posted 11:41 AM | Comments: 0 | E-Mail Post | Edit Post | Top }

Uncle Doyle

By Ryan, November 24, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll. I am not in Texas... I’m in Oklahoma. Today, I get to watch the Dallas Cowboys game with none other than my Uncle Doyle. He can be heard frequently throughout the game yelling his trademark phrase... “Git ’im! Git ’im! Git ’im!” I love that. It just isn’t Thanksgiving without him and the Cowboys.

Just like it isn’t Christmas without presents, right? Yeah. Even though we traditionally exchange gifts and then talk about the “Reason for the Season,” commercialism (or whatever you call it) tends to leave out the “Reason for the Season” part. Gee... wonder why... could it possibly be driven by the almighty dollar? Dur!

This Christmas, I’m not going shopping for presents. (Mainly because I have, like, $6 to my name?) Instead, I’m boycotting big commercialism-whatever and just making gifts for everyone. (I would love to tell you what I’m giving to my cousin, David, but he is right next to me...)

Have a great Thanksgiving, root for the Cowboys, don’t make fun of OSU this Saturday, and don’t go Christmas shopping unless you plan to buy me an iPod. NO!! I’ve become a victim of the Christmas thing!!

Thanks a lot, television...

Labels: Holiday, Relationships, Sports

{ Posted 12:13 PM | Comments: 0 | E-Mail Post | Edit Post | Top }

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