grown up christmas list

I sat down for a few minutes of down time this afternoon...flipped on the TV and Oprah was on. It was her FAVORITE THINGS show. I know very little about Oprah, however, it seems she must do a show every year where she shares her favorite things and then gives everyone in the audience the things she likes. For an hour, she displays unique item after unique item, from mixing bowls and board games to LG refrigerators, mixers and and UGs (some sort of shoe). I watched as the audience screamed and yelled, hollered and wept, stood speechless and jumped with excitement over the favorite things of Oprah, as she lavished on them her favorites, giving without measure and sharing what she loves.
But, somehow, I found myself a little sad. Not because I wasn't getting her favorite things, but because I wondered how many would rejoice if I gave them my favorite thing. This Christmas it has been my heart to lavish Jesus on people. Not just to talk about Him, show Him, share Him, teach others about Him, but to honestly be able to give them Jesus.... I know this sounds trite, but HE IS my favorite...and there is nothing I would rather do than give Him to the people in my world.
Although, I am still working on what that looks like, the thought that crossed my mind was how many would get as excited about my favorite thing as they did about Oprah's? How many would jump up and down, rejoice, scream, holler, yell, cry or stand speechless because Jesus was lavished on them? I kind of think it would look more like people saying...I have enough of that, I would rather have a refrigerator.
What if all we got this Christmas....was more of Jesus? Would our hearts rejoice on Christmas morning? Would we scream and tell the world about the gift we received? Jesus is received through life on life relationships. He lives IN US and through us...we give Jesus through building relationships with others and reflecting His goodness on them. And so, while I am thrilled that the Oprah show audience was blessed with things....I am a little sad because I think we would quickly rejoice over things and casually accept the gift of Jesus.
A few of my favorite things:
Time spent with family and friends.
A cup of coffee, so that we can linger over the moment.
Pouring over the Word of God.
Late night conversations.
Intimate pictures of His grace in our lives.
Sanctuary with Jesus.
Praying with others who have like minds.
Church in my living room.
Singing around the piano, song of praise.

Ok....so maybe I sound a little sappy....but these are the things I would lavish on you if I could...for they are a few of my favorite things. Merry Christmas...
ALL FOR YOU