gifts – The Faith Cafe

Posted on December 18, 2023November 14, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Last-Minute Christmas

Image of Lafayette department store in Paris
by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Do you leave your Christmas shopping until the last minute?

Surveys show that many of us do, with some people putting off their gift-buying until Christmas Eve itself.

This is a risky practice, because more often than not, the gift you come up with will be rather…interesting, shall we say.

With the stores sold out of the most popular items and the most common sizes and colours, you’re reduced to choosing gifts that are sometimes not well matched to the recipient.

Such as an extra-small sweater (in purple, no less) for your hefty brother.

Or an electric drill for your great-aunt Elspeth.

Oh, well, I suppose there are always gift cards!

But sometimes last-minute ideas can be wonderful.

Think of the origin of the Christmas carol “Silent Night,” which dates back to Austria in 1818.

Posted on December 11, 2023November 14, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Easter Eggs at Christmas

At Christmas, do your thoughts turn to Easter eggs?

Probably not, unless you’re an avid player of video games or a fan of certain movie franchises.

In the cinematic and computer worlds, an “Easter egg” is a secret message, image, or feature hidden in software, games, or films.

With video games, an Easter egg might be an unpublished feature or hidden property of the game that is normally hidden from the public eye. It can only be accessed by certain button combinations that are not common knowledge.

Easter eggs inserted by filmmakers in their works might involve a jokey detail or an obscure reference to a previous movie by the same auteur. Only the most alert audience members catch them.

For instance, famed film director Alfred Hitchcock had a penchant for appearing in cameo roles in his own movies. In 39 of the 52 films he directed, he left “Easter eggs” consisting of himself in blink-and-you-miss-it bit parts.

Are there any “Easter eggs” to be found hidden in the Christmas story in the Bible?

Actually, there are.

If you read the Scriptures closely, you’ll find that there are foreshadowings of Easter sprinkled throughout the accounts of Christ’s miraculous birth.

Posted on December 4, 2023November 14, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

I’m Dreaming of an Orange Christmas

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

What if all you got for Christmas was an orange?

You’d no doubt feel disappointed and short-changed, as though Scrooge had been put in charge of the gift-giving this year.

A measly orange? Where was the new big-screen TV you were expecting? Or the latest iPhone you thought would be in your Christmas stocking?

Actually, there was a time when receiving an orange for Christmas was considered a special treat. Oranges were once so rare in northern countries that Christmas was the only time you would splurge on them, and they came to symbolize the holiday season. In some families, an orange would be the only present you’d receive, and you would be thankful for it.

These days, we receive so many gifts that one individual present doesn’t stand out as much. Not only that, we seem to expect increasingly expensive gifts as the years go by.

Surveys show that the average American will spend about $1,000 on Christmas each year, which includes gifts, food, and decorations. Parents spend an average of $200-$300 per child on Christmas presents for their offspring.

That would buy a lot of oranges!

But with all this spending, we don’t seem to cherish the most important gift enough:

Jesus.

Somehow the incalculable worth of the gift of Jesus to humankind gets lost in the mix.

So how do we return to viewing the celebration of the birth of the Christ child as central to our Christmas celebrations?

Posted on August 31, 2022August 27, 2022 by Lori Cartmell

All Hands On Deck

Do you ever feel like God couldn’t use you in His service?

Do you think you’re not qualified, because you don’t have any unique gifts?

Do you think ministry is just for pastors or other specially talented people like musicians and singers?

Banish these thoughts from your mind.

God can use anyone in the service of His Kingdom, and He has gifted each one of us with a unique combination of talents, skill sets, personalities, and backgrounds. There are people you can reach for the gospel that no one else can.

If you need more convincing, let’s take a look at the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. It took place at a time when Jerusalem’s walls and gates were in a shambles, which left the city vulnerable to attack from enemies.

Everyone’s help was needed to complete the repair work, and that included some of the most unlikely people.

Posted on December 16, 2021December 8, 2021 by Lori Cartmell

All I Want For Christmas Is Staff

Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay

Have you made a list yet of what you want for Christmas?

Time is running short, so if you want to submit your list to Santa, you’d better get cracking!

Maybe you want some jewellery, a designer handbag, or a trip to a tropical isle?

Or perhaps your tastes run more to tools for your workshop, some custom bling for your car, or season tickets to see your favourite sports team play.

The kids in your life are probably way ahead of all of us and already know what toys and games they’d like.

As for me, after years of watching the historical British TV drama “Downton Abbey,” I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of having staff.

The size of staff required to keep a stately home like the fictional Downton Abbey running a century ago was considerable. They needed maids, cooks, valets, butlers, chauffeurs, and gardeners.

But the position that intrigued me most was that of footman. They seem to be so useful, able to turn their hands to any task around the house.

I really think I need a footman!

Or maybe, if I had to ask Santa for just one, a chef would be the better choice?

But really, I’m asking the wrong question. I should be asking: do I want to serve or to be served?

For Christians, there’s only one right answer:

It’s to serve others.

Posted on July 19, 2021July 10, 2021 by Lori Cartmell

Clues to God’s Presence

If you’re out in the countryside, how can you tell if you’re near water?

You may be able to catch a glimpse of blue and know that you’re near a lake or pond, but sometimes trees may hide it from your view. What then?

You can use your other senses, plus search for indirect clues.

If you hear the sound of waves lapping on the shore or running water cascading over rocks, you know you’re close to water even if you can’t see it.

Hearing the call of the red-winged blackbird can be another clue, because this bird prefers habitats near water.

Your sense of smell might help you detect the presence of water, too. Wet earth gives off a distinctive scent, and the presence of algae in a lake also emits an odour that can be a tip-off.

If vegetation is blocking the sight of a pond or river, even that vegetation itself can be a clue for you. If you see lots of willow trees, you’re bound to be near water, as willows are naturally found there.

So there are things we can look for that indicate the presence of water, even if it’s hidden from our sight.

But what about when we’re trying to determine if God is near?

We might not be able to see Him directly in physical form, but are there still indications that our Heavenly Father is close by?

Yes!

Posted on December 24, 2020December 15, 2020 by Lori Cartmell · 5 Comments

Go Ahead…Open It!

What traditions does your family have when it comes to Christmas gifts?

Do some of your family members like to give “prank” gifts?

This seems to be the specialty of a lot of Dads. Kids unwrap a gift from Dad to find an iPad box, and squeal with glee. When they open the box, however, they discover that inside are a bunch of eye pads! Thanks, Dad!

Or perhaps your family likes to disguise what the gift really is by wrapping it in a way that leaves you guessing. You might receive a large box, but when you unwrap it you find that it contains a series of increasingly smaller boxes. The last one contains the real gift, which might be a tiny box with jewellery inside.

In my family, we always open our gifts on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day itself. This tradition started when a certain little girl, who shall remain nameless, couldn’t wait until Christmas morning to see what “Santa” had brought her.

But no matter how a gift is wrapped or when it’s given, offering the gift is only half the equation.

It has to be received before the action is complete.

Posted on November 2, 2020October 10, 2020 by Lori Cartmell

The Gift You Didn’t Expect

Did you ever receive a gift that wasn’t quite what you were expecting?

Maybe you’d dropped hints to your husband that you wanted a certain designer perfume for Christmas, and instead you received…a power drill (coincidentally, exactly the one he wanted for his workshop!).

Or you were certain that your brother was going to give you a gift certificate to a spa so you could be pampered on your birthday, but somehow all you got from him was a new ironing board.

Let’s hope no one visiting this blog received the most tone-deaf Valentine’s Day gift I’ve heard of: a pre-planned funeral arrangement!

Our Father in Heaven knows how to give good gifts to His children, but He doesn’t always answer our requests in exactly the way we expected.