“To be grateful is to

recognize the

Love of God

in everything!”

–Thomas Merton–

Christmas Left-Overs

by Debbie Allen

New Year’s Day marks the beginning of a brand-new beginning. Ironically, this new beginning for me, always begins with   putting the pieces of the old year away.  Christmas trees and ornaments go back into their boxes, festive holiday dishes are slipped back   into the darkness of the buffet once more, and all the greenery and lights we strung up to warm our hearts throughout the Christmas season are suddenly stripped away.  In that first week after New Year’s Day, the stark barrenness of my own severely, un-adorned house nearly overwhelms me.  But then I remember I still have what I ‘ve come to call, my ‘Christmas leftovers’ to look forward to. Those things left behind from the un-decorating process that never made it into the storage closet or the trash. Each time I run on to one of them, they become the hints of a season gone by that enable me to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the memory of Christmas just a little further into the new year.  These leftovers can be something as simple as a run-away ornament that rolled under my couch, or a Christmas cup still stored in the recesses of the dishwasher. Other times, they’ve been a belated Christmas card re-discovered in a stack of mail, or even the surprise discovery of a forgotten tin of pizzelles, hiding out at the back of the pantry. This year, however, one of those Christmas leftovers surfaced in a most unusual place! It turned up in one of the farthest corners of my own heart.   Much to my surprise, it was hidden right out in plain sight…as if beckoning to be found once more.

All of my former Christmas leftovers, up until now, transported me backwards to treasured memories… but this one was different. It was propelling me forward, into the new year. 2024 was scrawled across the top of it, in an all too familiar Handwriting, The Fingerprints of God were all over this memory. I recognized it to be the Macy’s department store, 2023 Christmas commercial! It’s beautiful and inspiring message had touched my heart from the beginning! Even reminiscing over its contents once again was all it took to re-capture my whole heart!

This commercial begins with a father who is trying to keep up with his six-year-old son, doing some Christmas shopping inside a Macy’s store. The son is the only one shopping. First, he samples a generous squirt of men’s cologne.  Nose wrinkled and shaking his head, he walks away, climbing on the escalator with his dad. Jumping off on another floor, we see him racing in a new direction. We watch this little boy trying out cookware on his own. It’s obvious he’s out to find the perfect gift for someone. Maybe his mom…or even his dad?  As the camera pans a red-satin bedspread adorned with white fur; this little guy takes a flying leap and lands on his back in that bed, where he begins making a snow angel in the midst of all that white fur. Adorable! Even that’s not good enough for him. (By now we know that mom is holding a spot for her son in the l-o-n-g line of kids waiting to see Santa) Knowing time is growing short, we see both dad and son bolting through the store to get to mom in time.  When the boy passes by the toy department, he quickly shields his eyes from even being tempted to look in the direction of all the toys he loves. Once again, adorable!  Just as mom steps to the front of the long line, the little boy comes running up behind her. Then, he walks over to Santa, holding something behind his back. As the little boy steps in front of Santa, he presents him with a pair of men’s designer slippers, all tied-up with a red satin bow.

 “For you…” the boy tells Santa in his raspy voice.  “This is for after work.” He adds with a smile of satisfaction. 

Needless to say, this little boy’s selfless gesture renders Santa speechless. In the last scene, Santa’s face radiates uncontainable joy, and the little boy knows in his heart he’s chosen him the perfect gift. The bold caption which appears on the screen over them both in this moment reads:

“GIVE LOVE”!  “GIVE STYLE!”

Obviously, this inspiring commercial more than captures the spirit of love and giving. But every time I watched this commercial on T.V.  something else stood out to me too.  It was this little boy’s thankful heart.  He displays an unexpected devotion towards Santa, for who he is and for all the good gifts Santa’s brought to him over his young life.  Such devotion and appreciation are rare. It can’t be seen in the long line of kids still waving their ‘gimme’ lists in Santa’s direction. In the wisdom of a little child, this young boy miraculously grasps the importance of giving over getting.  He sees value in expressing a heartfelt ‘thank you’ instead of just becoming another of this world’s endless ‘gimmes.’  Though the commercial portrays a pair of designer slippers as being the perfect gift…I believe it was the rare and beautiful gift of this one little boy’s grateful heart that moved Santa’s own heart beyond words!

I share this Christmas leftover with you because I believe God placed it in that corner of my heart for a much greater purpose. This leftover wasn’t about me and my memories this time…it was about remembering Him.  This commercial magnifies, in a very real way, the grateful heart that God desires all of His children to have as they stand before Him. When I look at the little boy in Macy’s commercial…I see him as so much more than an adorable marketing strategy to boost yearly sales.  He is a picture of adoration and awe, devotion and thankfulness as he stands in the presence of his gift-giver.  In a world full of gimme hearts, this boy’s grateful heart stands out far, far above the rest.  And so should the hearts of all of God’s children.

Our God is so worthy of every thankyou our lips will ever spill forth in praise before Him; plus, ten thousand more besides. He is the Greatest Gift-Giver our hearts will ever experience. He’s given us the Greatest Gift mankind has ever, or will ever, know since the beginning of time: His Only Son, Jesus, our Savior.  Should not our own hearts respond by giving Him, the greatest “Thankyou” we’ve ever offered to Him? You see, the praise and thankyous flowing from a grateful heart, are also good indicators of our spiritual health.

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“The Praise and Thankyous flowing from a grateful heart, are also good

indicators of our own spiritual health.”

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As you and I step into this coming New Year, may the greatest desire of our lives be to become a more extravagant display of our devotion and appreciation to the Lord; in a world growing ever more saturated with gimme hearts. Much like the little boy who captured my heart in the Macy’s commercial; may we strive to walk out our lives in 2024, with more grateful hearts. God is constantly giving us more than we need or deserve. It’s His Goodness and Generosity that should spur us on towards living out of a more grateful heart.  A heart that is filled with genuine devotion for our Greatest Gift-Giver; so that our own lives and actions will become His living testimonies on earth.  You see, we are His commercials in this world, meant to play out our roles in 2024 in a way that captures every eye, and points every heart towards God’s Love, Generosity, Mercy, Forgiveness and Unending Grace.  As we stand in the Presence of our Generous Gift-Giver at the end of every day; I pray the advertising tagline, written in bold letters over our heads reads something like this:

“GIVE LOVE…GOD STYLE…WITH A GRATEFUL HEART!”

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your Name; to declare Your Lovingkindness in the morning, and Your Faithfulness every night.”

(Psalms 92:  1-2 NIV)

Dearest Father in Heaven, You alone are our Greatest Gift-Giver. You are so worthy to receive our thanks and praise. You remind us in Your word that ‘Giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors You” (Ps. 50:23).  Please enable us to do so, knowing this is the way to keep our own ‘gimme’ hearts in right relationship with You. Keep us from forgetting that You are our Greatest Gift in life. Strengthen us and continue to teach us how to live before you in this coming new year, out of the abundance of a grateful heart.

In Jesus Name…AMEN.