It sure feels great to have all my Christmas shopping done! My daughter and I spent the day on a shopping expedition. In the early afternoon we found all the presents we wanted to give. Then came the really hard part. We spent the early evening wrapping them!

    We really had a blast wrapping all the gifts—choosing the right wrapping paper for each one, picking out a bow, and then selecting just the right name tag for each gift. But while we enjoyed our task, neither of us is what you would call an expert wrapper. It took us a LONG time to get each of the presents wrapped. When we finished it looked like a bomb had gone off in the room. But my oh my! The different sizes, shapes, colors, papers, and bows made the presents look fantastic under the twinkling Christmas lights on the tree.

    Was it worth all the effort? You bet it was. For the next several weeks, each of us will sneak by the tree when we think no one is looking. We'll shake our boxes, inspect their size and anticipate their contents. While we may think we know what’s inside, we won’t know for sure until we open them! The wrapping paper adds to the fun and excitement, beauty, and anticipation of Christmas.

    But Christmas isn’t just about brightly wrapped presents. During the holidays, we cram our houses full of people, eat too much, stir up all sorts of bad memories and nudge open old grudges. Quite frankly, we sometimes have a little too much of each other. We stay up too late, the kids begin to get irritable, and then someone “pushes our button.” LOOK OUT!—boom, out comes something we really didn’t mean to say. We dump a big “ouchie” in the lap of someone we love. We really didn’t mean it. It just slipped out. But there it is, an unnecessary wound. If only we’d taken the time to wrap our words in kindness, tact, and courtesy rather than sarcasm, ridicule, or bitterness.

    This Christmas, let’s make sure that the presents under the tree are not the only thing wrapped with care. When it comes to talking to our families and friends, let’s make sure we don’t forget the wrapping paper!