What are some creative gifts for the Holidays?

Now here's a great listener question.

Ralph, I love giving gifts, but it feels like everything is so expensive now.

How can I still be generous without spending a ton of money?

Yeah, let me tell you right now, it's about that time, isn't it?

I don't know about you, but everything is expensive now.

Which leads me to ask you a question.

Do gifts have to be expensive to matter?

Really?

Do you think they have to be expensive to matter?

I thought about that myself and I think the truth is most meaningful gifts often come from the heart, not the mall.

And that's what I'm going to talk about on today's show.

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Welcome to the show.

I'm Ralph.

And this is your daily episode of helping you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

It's the whole reason I do this show and we're enjoying this 30 days, praying for the holidays and trying to do it without going into debt.

And today I thought I'd share a story.

Now I remember this like it was Yesterday, probably was 15 years ago.

It was Christmas, and I'll never forget Christmas morning.

My wife had wrapped up these interesting gifts and I didn't know exactly what it was, but they were all in square boxes.

We got together, we were going to open gifts and she had one for me, she had one for my youngest son and for my oldest son.

And she says, I am really excited for you to open up these gifts.

And I got to be honest with you, I had no idea what was in this, in this box.

I know it wasn't a pet because it didn't have holes for it to breathe.

Right.

But the dog was running around the house already anyway, but anyway, so she said, ralph, I want you to open yours first.

And of course the kids, they had their pile of toys to open up.

I'm just painting a picture for you.

But they had their toys to open up.

So we let them get through that.

And then we got to the end and there was these three boxes left.

And she said, ralph, I want you to open up yours first.

And I opened up the box and it was wrapped in nice paper, you know that linen paper that kind of crumbles when you touch it.

And I see on the front of it's a picture of her and I.

And this was a, I'm talking, this is a beautiful wood box, all black, had a nice gold trim around a picture on the front of It.

And I said, what is this?

And she goes, oh, you got to open it up.

So I opened it up, and as soon as I opened up, I almost burst into tears.

It was this letter from her, and it was all about, you know, what is the point of Christmas?

And what each of us meant to her.

And let me just tell you right now, I've gotten a lot of gifts over my life, but that was probably the most valuable gift I've ever received because it was from her heart.

I mean, she took the time, she put a scrapbook together.

She put pictures of events and things that mattered to her and I doing our marriage.

And she did the same thing for the boys.

And I'm gonna tell you right now, most little kids, they're interested in their toys.

They're interested in the stuff that goes zoom, zoom and the stuff you gotta put batteries in.

But these two kids were.

I guess they were probably 8 and 11 years old, and they were old enough to understand, and they could start to read.

And it was amazing to see how appreciative they were.

The two boys just.

They were in tears, you know.

And in the end, man, my wife just sat there and was just a great family experience.

But guess what?

There was no credit card debt afterwards.

There wasn't any of that January regret.

And it was something that we still have to this day.

It still sits on my bookshelf in my office.

This is something the boys still have.

And when they're having one of those rough days, or I'm having one of those rough days, I go open it up.

And it just reminds me of what really matters in life.

And I love what Amy Carmichael said.

She said, you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

And that is profound, isn't it?

That really struck me.

You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.

Which leads me to a bit of a mini rant.

Abby, my producer, and I were planning for the show last week, and I said, we got to do this show.

We're going to talk about gifts from the heart.

She And I said, one thing I really hate, Abby, is I hate gift cards.

And I'll tell you why.

It never really dawned on me why I hate them.

Because, yes, you can give them, but how loving is it?

How much effort does it take?

You're in the supermarket aisle and you're way out the door, and you see this rack of gift cards.

Just pick one.

It's not much love in that.

I'm not criticizing people who give gift cards, but take A little time.

Do something heartfelt.

Which leads us to our big question for today.

And that's how can I still be generous without spending a ton of money?

Well, I've got some great ideas for you.

First thing you can do handmade gifts.

These things go a long way.

You can bake for somebody.

Listen, I'm not baking for anybody.

Because if I tried to make a cake, he'd be like, ralph, I'm not eating that.

But a lot of people have a gift of cooking or a gift of baking.

Do that for them.

Maybe get a photo and frame it.

Listen, you don't have to spend a lot of money and you can build something prices for them.

I've seen people give framed pictures.

Those things are wonderful.

Or like my wife did, just write a heartfelt note for somebody.

What they mean to you, what the holidays mean to them.

What it means to you.

Because here's the truth.

Personal touches beat price tags.

They just do.

I've experienced that my own life.

Which leads me to the second thing you consider.

How about some experience gifts?

The things that I remember the most in my life are shared time with other people.

Because I can always go buy somebody something.

I can go buy that.

That nasty gift card or whatever that looks like.

But, man, time.

Time is probably the most precious commodity that any of us have.

Think about that.

You choose to spend your time with somebody, you're choosing not to do something else.

Those experience gifts, that shared time is priceless.

Here's another great idea.

How about some service gifts?

Maybe Things are real tight.

I remember when I was a teenager, I didn't have a lot of money.

So.

So what did I do?

I gave gifts of service.

I said to my mom and dad, hey, I'll wash and wax your car.

I'll do this, I'll do that.

Maybe for you, it's babysitting.

Maybe, you know, a young couple that needs some time off or needs some time away to just reconnect for a date night, offer to give them some babysitting, maybe make them a meal.

Hey, maybe your mom or your elderly parents need you to run some errands.

Because listen, these speak love loudly.

Gifts should speak in love.

Abby and I were talking about preparing.

She goes, rafa, I love the holidays.

I love giving.

What she's really saying.

And I bet you're thinking the same thing, is, I love to love.

Well, you do that by being thoughtful, which leads me to the next thing.

Thoughtfulness.

Listen, I'm.

I'm not great at this.

My wife always says, ralph, sometimes you need to listen.

Well, listen to what truly matters to somebody.

And many times it's your presence, not your purchase.

And it doesn't have to be luxury.

I said this.

I put this in my notes today.

Love, not luxury.

Because God cares about the heart behind the gift.

He doesn't care about the total on the receipt.

Which leads me to today's Bible verse.

And this one comes from the Acts of Apostles, chapter 20, verse 35.

And listen, this is Jesus speaking.

This is what he said.

He said the Lord Jesus himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Well, listen, if Jesus Christ himself said it, we better learn from that.

How about we pray together right now?

Lord, as we think about the holidays and we think about giving joyful gifts, Lord, help us to have a heart that values meaning over materialism.

It's so easy.

In our culture, we see materialism, this noise coming at us from all sides and social media and the shopping mall and all the shopping sites, and help us to be creative, Lord, to bless others in thoughtful ways.

And, Lord, we just have gratitude that you give us the ability to give from love, not from obligation.

So help us to have a true heart, Lord, because we know you're not looking at receipts, but you're looking at those times that are written on our heart.

So, Lord, we just ask you to help us to find that in our lives and help us to reach the people in our time and have that joy in the holidays.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

All right, so here's your action item for today.

It's going to be pretty simple.

Today.

I want you to write down three creative gift ideas that you could give this year.

Because truth is, things, little things that cost a little, mean a lot.

Maybe it's a memory jar.

Maybe it's a letter or a box like my wife did.

Maybe it's a coupon book or acts of service.

Or here's a great idea.

Create a personalized playlist for your mom or somebody of some music that you think they'll really like.

Or, hey, here's a great idea, too.

Just write them a reflection letter of what they mean to you and the impact that they've made on your life.

So let's get creative today.

Let's think about heart overpriced, because love makes the best gifts.

And as I said yesterday, presence over presence.

Give from love, not from obligations, because that's generosity that lasts.

Well, thank you for joining me today.

I want to encourage you right now, go out there and be a financially confident Christian.

Stay financially savvy.

God bless.

And I'll see you again tomorrow on the show.