Christmas Gifts & Kryptonite

Merry Christmas (Eve)! Where has 2018 gone? I wish you all a special and blessed Christmas season as you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I wanted to share a Christmas story that I hope will put a smile on your face as you enjoy the holiday season. After all, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.

Wendy and I were married in the summer of 2003.  We moved into a small, one-bedroom apartment that was just right for a newly wed couple.  We did not even mind the avacado-green color of the stove and refrigerator!  We loved one another, and we loved the thrill of being our own family, making our own decisions.

Clint & Wendy with Dr. Lee Roberson, 2004

My wife is a shoe person; she has shoes of many varieties and for many occasions.  Women and shoes are a combination I have never understood, and I have given up trying to figure out!  Once, she saw a pair of boots that she absolutely loved.  Being the dutiful husband, I made a mental note that those boots would make an excellent Christmas present.

One day, I cleared some time away so that I could purchase her boots without her knowledge.  I bought them and brought them home to hide them until I could wrap them.  I figured that the only place I would be able to hide the package would be in our living room closet, so I tucked the box away under other items anxiously awaiting the morning when she would find her new shoes!  I was ecstatic over the fact that I had been a good husband for our first Christmas.

Then, it happened.  Can you guess?  She found her boots in the closet!  To this day she says she was not snooping, but how can we be sure?  Of course, she loved her present, but I was left with a dilemma.  What could I get for my wife now that the surprise of the boots had been ruined?

What would you have done?  A light bulb went off, and I had an idea.  I thought I would teach my wife a lesson for “snooping” for the gift.  Knowing that my wife had about twenty-five pairs of shoes at the time, and realizing that she did not wear most of them or even knew about some of them, I decided to take a pair of her own shoes and wrap them as a gift.  I know, I know – you’re thinking, “Why?”  Ignoring better judgment, I did as planned, and placed the gift under the tree.

Now, before you think me a total loon, please note that I went and purchased a pair of ruby earrings (she loves the color red).  The master scheme was that I would give her a gag gift of her own shoes and then become the shining knight as I brought out the earrings.

As they say, the best laid schemes….  Christmas approached, and we had planned to travel to be with our family.  We made our journey, and everything was set for the big day.  On Christmas morning, gifts were exchanged and opened.  The shoes were ready, and, sure enough, my wife tore into the package, had a momentary look of surprise, and then said, “Wait a minute; these are my shoes!”  “Why did you give me a pair of my own shoes,” she asked.  I explained that since she had found her boots, and I wanted her to have shoes under the tree, I got her shoes that I KNEW would be a surprise for her to open (or is that shock)!

Ah, but to every Superman, there is Kryptonite.  All would have been well, except that when we drove 350 miles for our holiday, I FORGOT the earrings!  Yep.  Beautiful, sparkling earrings, perfect to make me a hero, sitting at home, on a shelf, gathering dust until the new year.  Mean while, I sit, embarrassed in front of family, and looking at a wife who was thinking, “What did I marry?”

It goes without saying that I have a wonderful wife.  She still loves me, and she’s still married to me!  She even dons the rubies every now and again.

Clint & Wendy, Lake Michigan, 2009

I love the wife God has given me.  I am thankful for her, and I am thankful that I can spend my life on earth with such a precious lady.  God gave her to me.  My hope and prayer is that you know what it means to have that special someone who only God could bring into your life – His perfect will for you.  My desire is that our young people will learn to wait for God’s choice and enjoy the blessed journey with that person in God’s plan.

It is truly glorious to know the Lord and walk each day with the wife he has given me.