One of my favorite Christmas memories involved my big imagination and the endless possibilities of a particular present. I tell this story so much my wife just rolls her eyes every time I start out with "One Christmas I...." and she always knows whats going to follow.
When you are 8 years old you have a huge imagination, and mine was no different. Mike, Stevie, and I were always playing some kind of war games or reenactment. A piece of PVC pipe would become a semi-automatic rifle, a big piece of PVC would become a rocket launcher. We could find any object and find some kind of military use for it. That Christmas I had my mind set that I needed a big cardboard box. I wasn't talking about a grocery box I wanted a refrigerator size box. A box of this size could be transformed into a variety of military uses such as a tank, command center, jet, or submarine. The possibilities were endless. I wrote my letter to Santa explaining what I wanted, sat on his lap at the Enchanted Forest (because everyone knew that was the real Santa), and after questionable looks from Santa and my parents my point had been made.
Christmas morning arrived and as usual my brother and I ran into the living room to see what Santa had brought. There against the wall stood the tallest box I had ever seen. To an 8 year old it appeared to be as tall as the tree but of course it wasn't. I felt around the sturdy walls of cardboard and even though I couldn't see over the top I could only imagine how much space was inside. The box was perfect! I stood back and my imagination kicked in full gear of all of the adventures I could have in this wonderful gift before me. In my moment of happiness something caught my attention. I noticed my little brother playing with all of the toys Santa had brought him. I'm not sure how Santa brought you gifts but he always left ours unwrapped for us to see when we first got up. Will is having a blast playing with his new firetruck and the rest of the toys he had pulled around him. I started looking around for the toys that I thought Santa had brought me and there were none to be found. I walked around my big box thinking they might been behind it but nothing was there. My heart sank and I felt a lump develop in my throat thinking surely this isn't all I got from Santa? My mind was racing as I thought about what else I had asked for and I was drawing blanks. I was so focused on my big box that it consumed me to the point that I never mentioned any other toys.
By this time mom and had crawled out of bed to begin our family Christmas. My dad saw the disappointment in my already watered eyes. He asked if everything was ok and I explained to him about my giant dilemma. He confirmed that the box is what I had asked for where I sheepishly replied "yes sir". My dad gave me hug, picked me up, and walked me over to the box. There inside the box was a mountain of toys from Santa to me. I learned a valuable lesson that Christmas that still relates to life today. We can be so focused on our plans and goals that we can easily miss the blessings we encounter along the way.
Merry Christmas.
-Steve Childress
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