Three Perfect Gifts for Your Kids this Christmas
Here are a few gifts for your kids that are the lasting treasures we can give them through prayer and trusting Him.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
(James 1:17 ESV)
My husband and I were in full agreement. There was no way we were going to get our four-year-old daughter a doll that cost more than $100 for Christmas. Annesley would have to be happy with the $14.99 version we’d picked up at Target. Christmas case, closed.
But Annesley persisted. “The only thing I want is a My Size Barbie,” she pleaded. If we heard that request once, we heard it a hundred times, and by Christmas Eve we couldn’t take any more. In what I still consider one of our greatest financial parenting fails, we caved. It took three stores (the first two were out of the in-demand doll), but we finally came home with the prize, and we couldn’t wait to see the joy on our little girl’s face.
And we saw it—briefly. Annesley squealed with delight when she spotted the box. She tore off the wrapping paper, tore off Barbie’s sparkly pink outfit, put it on herself, and…that was that.
Surely, there had to be a better approach to gift-giving at Christmas.
A Gift that Will Last
I thought back to my own growing up years. I had one grandma who showered her grandkids with gifts every Christmas (she had them all wrapped and tagged by October) and another who never gave us a thing. To her credit, Grandma Number Two never asked for anything either. All she wanted was for us to memorize a Bible verse every year and, in return for our effort, she prayed, bringing our names and our needs before God.
As a teenager, I much preferred Wrap-and-Tag Grandma’s approach. And I rolled my eyes at Bible Verse Gammy. Why, I thought, couldn’t she just be happy with a scarf, a poinsettia, or maybe even a framed photo of me? Why did she have to make Christmas so…holy?
That was then. This is now. And now that I am a grandmother with four adult kids of my own—kids whose Christmas wish lists have moved beyond Barbie to include everything from designer jeans and fancy electronics to a Tempur-Pedic mattress topper—I can see the wisdom behind Bible Gammy’s gift-giving strategy.
For one thing, all of those verses she asked her grandkids to memorize—promises about God’s wisdom, his love, and his grace—brought perspective and context to my growing up years. They became the anchors that held my life steady.
And the gift Gammy gave us—the gift of her prayers—is still bearing fruit. I don’t know what, exactly, she prayed for, but I have to believe that my grandmother’s petitions opened the door to countless blessings I didn’t deserve—and protected me from untold evils I did.
And they set the stage for my own parenting (and gift-giving) style.
Slip your Hand into God’s
As my kids grew and faced all manner of life-shaping challenges—mean girls at school, peer pressure at parties, the whole maze of college admissions—I realized that they needed their own provision from God. I asked him for all sorts of good gifts over the years, but here are three petitions I returned to again and again:
- A prayer for peace: Equip my children to trust you. Replace fear and anxiety with your peace, guarding their hearts and their minds. (Philippians 4:6-7 ESV)
- For protection: Spread your protection over them; surround them with your favor, as with a shield. (Psalm 5:11-12 NIV)
- For wisdom: Instruct them and teach them in the way they should go; counsel them with your loving eye on them. (Psalm 32:8 NIV)
Peace, protection, and wisdom are just three of the good and perfect gifts God delights to provide; we can trust him for oh-so-much more.
Which is a good thing.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in nearly 35 years of parenting—and of trying to give good gifts to my children—it’s that we don’t always know what our kids really need. Sometimes (like when they grow up and go off to colleges and careers), we might not even know where they are.
But you know what? That’s okay. Because God does. He knows our kids—and he loves them like crazy. And when we tether our prayers to God’s promises—when we stake our trust in his Word—we can be confident that God is at work, giving his very best gifts to the people we love.
This Christmas, let’s partner with God. Let’s slip our hand into his, and ask him to bless our children—wherever they are, whatever they need—with the gift of his peace. With his protection. His wisdom. With friends who will continue to point them toward Jesus. And, more than anything else, with an overwhelming sense of how lavishly they are loved.
In His Word
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11 ESV)
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1 NIV)
In Your Life
Spend a few moments thinking about your own children. How might God want to bless them socially, spiritually, or physically? Is there a prayer verse in this post that speaks to that need? Commit to praying that over their lives between now and Christmas, or even into the new year.
What about you? As you make your list (and check it twice!), take a moment to think about the good gifts your heavenly Father has lavished on you. Make another list, thanking him for his provision, and then open your heart to receive all the good and perfect gifts God wants to give you today.
We Recommend
Discover more prayers for protection, wisdom, friendship, and dozens more topics in Praying the Scriptures for Your Children. Filled with real-life illustrations, biblical insights, and compelling prayers, this book makes a perfect gift for any mom or dad (and for older parents, there are volumes for Teens and Adult Children too).
Let’s Connect
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