Tag Archive: Giving

Unwrapping Special Gifts

gifts The other night we saw an episode of According to Jim. Jim (played by Jim Belushi) was stressing because he had not had a good year – money was tight and it was Christmas time. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to buy his kids the gifts they wanted.

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icon for podpress  Hear George & Mary-Lynn unwrap their special gifts on The Bigg Success Show! Click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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His wife, Cheryl (Courtney Thorne-Smith) pointed out to him that the kids had barely looked at the presents they got the year before. In fact, one was still in its original package – it had been unwrapped but never opened and played with!

Maybe that kid was just a collector at heart!

But this show made us think … sometimes we get caught up on getting something new and not reflecting on the gifts we already have. So today we want to unwrap some of our most special gifts.

If you want to listen to us open these gifts, just click the “play” button above. Otherwise, picture each package being opened …

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george
Why don’t you kick it off, Mary-Lynn?

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marylynnThis one is a real, real special one. It’s the gift of my Dad. He had a bit of a health scare going into the holidays. He’s fine – clean bill of health. So thank you, God. I love my gift this year! Alright George, it’s your turn.

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georgeMy gift is memories of Mom and Dad. Mom’s been gone a couple of years now so it’s still somewhat fresh, I guess. I think about the things I learned from them, the things that helped make me who I am, for better or worse – I can blame them! I had a very special Mom and Dad and I’m very thankful for that. Now, you’re up Mary-Lynn.

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marylynnOh, yes … we’ve had a cold winter here in Illinois. There have been nights when you just hear that wind outside howling and I am inside and toasty warm! So the gift of a nice warm house is something I’m very, very grateful for this year.

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georgeWe often don’t stop to think about the basics and how many people there are who don’t even have something as simple as that.

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marylynn
Exactly. Alright, George, tear into the next one.

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georgeOne of the features of our car is remote unlock. Man, as we’ve been out shopping in the cold, it’s really nice to be able to find your car quickly because it winks at us. And of course, to be able to get right in once you’re to it.

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marylynnThat’s a good one. Okay, I’ll open the next one. Ah, the gifts of our kitty cats – Fifi and Fraidy. We have original cat names, don’t we? Boy, they just give us gifts all year long … loving and purring.

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george
Yeah, and sometimes they leave us a little something on the floor!

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marylynn
We don’t like those gifts at all!

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georgeOkay, let’s open the next one. It’s for both of us, Mary-Lynn. Let’s see what it is … ah, it’s our families. You have a great family, Mary-Lynn. Love your dad and your sister.

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marylynnYou have a great family, too. Your sisters are all so fun – listening to all of the siblings laughing together. It’s just so nice!

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georgeYes, and the in-laws aren’t so bad either. A cool group of nephews and now, one little niece. And Mary-Lynn, while we’re on family, I have to say that I’m also very thankful for you.

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marylynn
Ah, that’s so sweet. I’m thankful for you too. You’re a special man!

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georgeIt brings up the point, though. I think sometimes those closest to us are the people we most take for granted. We often don’t show them the appreciation we should.

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marylynn
Yeah, I forget about you all the time, George.

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george
I know you do!

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marylynn
George, I’ve got to tell you … I think we scored this Christmas.

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georgeI’m with you on that – but Mary-Lynn, I just noticed something … over there in the corner, it looks like there’s another bigg present for us.

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marylynn
Alright, let’s open it up … ah yes, of course. This is something we’re really grateful for.

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georgeWe’re grateful for you! The fact that you spend time with us like you do – you share your insights, you listen to our show, you read our blog posts. However you spend time with us, we’re just so thankful.

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marylynnYou are the reason that we get to do what we love to do! That is such an amazing gift and we thank you so much.

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So to you we say, whatever your chosen holiday at this time of year, we wish you and yours the very best. For us, it’s Christmas … so Merry Christmas!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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The Best Present of All, No Matter How It’s Wrapped

(Image in today's post by orangeNess)

The Best Present of All, No Matter How It’s Wrapped

present As if there’s not enough to do this time of year, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, not only to find the perfect gift, but also to make sure it’s wrapped just right.

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icon for podpress  Hear George & Mary-Lynn share today's story on The Bigg Success Show! Click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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marylynnA lot of people laugh at using the comic section as wrapping paper, but I just love that idea!

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georgeMy secret … I only buy from stores that gift-wrap. I know they’ll make it look a lot better than I could!

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And think about it – where does the wrapping paper end up anyway?

We think everything needs to be perfect or we’ll disappoint people. But will we?

We found a true story of a little girl who felt that same pressure. She was a third-grader in rural Central Kentucky. This story was originally published on Christmas Day of 1987. It happened the week before. The teacher told the story with the understanding that her name, the name of the school, and the name of the student would not be revealed.

The classroom was full of excitement as the teacher opened her gifts. She thanked each student by name as she admired their exquisitely wrapped presents. One of the students mentioned that someone was crying in the cloakroom.

The teacher went to the cloakroom and discovered a girl holding a gift. She asked, “Don't you want to give me your gift?"

The child was sobbing as she said, “Mine's not pretty."

"Well, now, why don't you let me be the judge of that," the teacher responded.

The little girl, still crying, handed her teacher the present, which was wrapped in pink wallpaper. Instead of ribbon, there were flowers.

As she looked at the present, the teacher was so touched that she began to cry. This little girl had tried so hard to make her present pretty. But after she saw her classmates’ gifts, she was too ashamed to put it under the tree with theirs.

A few days before, the class went to a local nursing home with presents for the residents. The teacher recalled that the little girl’s gift was a bar of motel soap, wrapped in notebook paper. On it was written, “To a friend with love”.

The teacher realized that day how special this little girl was. She came from a very poor family, but she had so much to give. For instance, she saw a woman sitting alone crying. The little girl left her group to visit with the woman.

“It doesn’t matter what’s in a package,” the teacher said. “All I ask of you for Christmas is your love, and you’ve already given me that. So if you didn’t give me anything else, that would be enough.”

At that moment, the little girl grabbed the teacher around the neck, gave her a big hug, and cried and cried.

The teacher pulled the pink wallpaper off the gift. She found a box that had originally held Lipton tea bags. She opened the box to discover a small blue towel, which was wrapped around two little glass votive cups – complete with dust around the candles. The child had brought these candles from home.

“I thought you would like these,” the little girl said. “Mama wrapped them up in the towel to keep them from breaking."

As the teacher fought the tears forming in her eyes, she thanked the child and told her that this was the perfect gift. A little girl, who had no money to buy a gift, and no wrapping paper or ribbon, had reminded her once again that a gift of love is the best present of all, no matter how it’s wrapped.

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We thank you for reading our post today. Join us next time when we’ll find out how the angel ended up on top of the tree. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00292-122308.mp3

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