So this year I’m going to start writing or recording shorter blogs, many of which will seem random. I really want to share observations about life, memories, current events, and other seemingly “non-spiritual-specific” subjects. Since God the Father has put all things under the Kingly authority of Christ, I believe that opens up all of life to be observed, enjoyed and shared. We can sip a cup of tea and think, “Thank You, Lord, for this little joy,” because all good things are a gift of God.
As a result, I’m going to sometimes follow the writing prompts of my blog host, WordPress, so you can look into a wider window of my life. The writing prompt suggested today is:
“Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.”
WordPress asked me and now I ask you: what was one of the best gifts you ever received? Btw… it’s too easy to say, “my spouse” or “my children” or “my grandchildren” or “salvation.” We’re going to exempt life events from possible answers. That makes your and my answer more… interesting, perhaps? Even better, let’s say that it has to be a gift physically given to you by another person or persons (e-gift cards need not apply).
What is one of the best gifts you’ve ever received?
As for myself, I immediately thought of 1980 and 1981, when I received two gifts from my parents or grandparents (I don’t remember which): a child-size Dallas Cowboys jersey of my favorite player, quarterback Danny White (1980), and a small Cowboys helmet (1981). It looked SO real! I think I wore that uniform for the entire year. You know how kids tend to love a gift to death? I enjoyed just about every bit of clothing I received until mere threads remained! Except for socks and underwear in my Christmas stocking. I just smiled and said, “Thank you, Grandmother,” while secretly wishing they were baseball cards instead.
I’m not sure what happened to that Danny White uniform, but the helmet is safely stored away in our guest room, alongside a Dallas Mavericks signed basketball that I won in a skating rink drawing in 1987. The helmet shows some wear (as we all do at some point, right?) and I once tried to re-paint its lines and famous star. I groan when I look at the helmet now. As you can imagine, the restoration abilities of a 10- or 11-year-old are… aspirational at best.
For most of my youth, sports gifts were the most cherished items. I loved sports and any Dallas-area professional sports merchandise was beloved. I had a Rangers hat, Cowboys uniforms, wrist bands, pants and pads, Mavericks jerseys and that awesome basketball, signed by the 1986-87 Mavericks team.
Other memorable gifts consisted of a bike (that I rode everywhere), a tool chest with a new Black and Decker drill, an Apple iPad (my sister surprised us all with iPad gifts), a microphone mixer, and a weather station with thermometer, rain catch and humidity gauge. That last gift turned me into a weather-monitoring machine, and I found a new and lifelong hobby. In the early 1990s I kept meticulous weather records at our rental home, sometimes even writing down my observations on a window in front of my school desk using a grease pencil. When we got a heavy rainfall, I would call a local TV station’s weather report hotline and let them know how much we received.
More recently, I was given an Apple watch by the lovely Mrs. Newton. I never had any desire to have one but the watch has become my medical assistant, serving as my pulse-ox and sleep monitor. While I hate being notified of things constantly, Shannon loves it because I can no longer plead ignorance to missing calls, texts, etc. Sigh.
What was one of your most memorable gifts? Was there something that seemingly came “out of the blue” and changed some part of your life?
— John
J.C. Newton 