Dad had come home from a hard day at work. He had washed his hands and went looking for his little girl. He came around the corner and there was his three year old daughter wrapping a box with some gold wrapping paper his wife had purchased for a friend's wedding gift. Money was hard to come by and he blew his top when he saw his little girl trying to decorate a box for no apparent reason.

The next evening, the Dad had settled into his favorite chair, when here came his little three old. She had a shy little smile on her face and there in her hands was the box wrapped in the gold foil. She held out the box and said, "Daddy, this is for you." The Father felt bad about the way he had reacted the previous day and he eagerly opened the box. A little of the previous anger returned as he saw that the box was empty. He found himself almost snapping at her, "Don't you know that when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside of it?"

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew a hundred kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy".

The father was crushed. He reached out and put his arms around his little girl, and he asked her to forgive him. The man kept that gold box for years. Whenever he was down, discouraged or upset, he would take out the box and take an imaginary kiss and remember the precious little girl who had put it there.

Listen, each of us as parents has been given a precious container filled with unconditional love. That precious container is called a child. Don't waste the precious gift given to you!!

Story from unknown source adapted by Pastor Ed Rutherford

I have received a lot of gifts over the years. Some were expensive and some where not. There are two gifts that I have that are priceless. A can covered with some brown paper and a few strips of paper cut like feathers. It is covered with primitive arrows and Indian art. It was made by oldest daughter when she was about five and given to me as a fine pen and pencil holder for my desk. I still have it and I still use it.

The second is a hand painted paper tie given to me by my youngest daughter. I remember wearing it and seeing the smile on her face. I don't wear it anymore but it is sequestered away with all my other valuables.

These gifts are priceless because they are gifts of love. We need to remember that the real gifts, the real valuables are not always the most costly, they are the gifts that come from the heart. Let's give gifts from the heart this Christmas. Let's tell people are important and precious they are to us. Those are things that are made of the most valuable commodity... Love!