Sometimes we receive a gift we’d really rather not have gotten. “You shouldn’t have” we say, smiling with too much sincerity. We’ve all given and received such gifts, but sometimes we forget that we smile at God in this forced way too.

Our expectations might set us up to feel disappointment because when we feel that something was supposed to happen for us and then when it doesn’t, we feel let down.

When I get stuck in this rut, my husband teases me that I don’t feel sad because I don’t have a house in Malibu. It’s his way of encouraging me to be grateful for where I am in the life I have and in the circumstances where God has placed me instead of longing for things I don’t have and haven’t even thought of having. It would be silly for me to be sad about not having beach house in Malibu, as nice as that might be, because it’s just some random thing which I don’t have a use for. There are always things that we could wish for but won’t get. Letting that “house in Malibu” make you sad steals joy from the gifts you do have.

We might still long for what we expected to have, but God leads us, often through trials, to ever deeper joys. This Christmas, no matter what’s under the tree, you already have amazing gifts to be truly thankful for. Just don’t forget to tell Him so.

Thank you God, for the gifts I take for granted.

Thank you for the gifts I’ve not appreciated until later.

Thank you for the gifts I haven’t even known were gifts.

Glory to God for all things.