Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A Thoughtful and Economical Way to Give Gifts





On one of our frequent walks where we talk about everything and nothing, my husband and I discovered a new way to save money and still give thoughtful gifts.

“Isn’t today the day you were saved, about thirty-nine years ago?” I asked.

Knowing how prone I am to shenanigans, Kevin answered with caution. “Yessss… why do you ask?”

“Well, I meant to buy you a gift, but since it’s a week ‘til payday, I ate a cookie in your honor instead.”

He rolled his eyes. “Thanks a lot. That means the world to me.”

“I thought it would. Hey, we could do this for all our gift giving from now on. We send a card or email saying, “Happy Birthday. We ate a porterhouse steak in your honor,” or “Congratulations on your new baby; we bought some roses to celebrate. “

I picked up my stride as I warmed to this brilliant idea. “When our nephew Tim graduates, we can go on that cruise I’ve always longed for; we can bake a cake and eat it when my friend Terri gets a job; and we can buy a Get Well Soon balloon whenever someone we know is in the hospital. Balloons cheer me up, don’t they you, Kev?”

If he’d folded his answer in half he couldn’t have fit it in, I was yakking so fast. “We’ll start a whole new tradition of honoring people on their special day, and save money at the same time!”

He shook his head and grinned. “I’m sure it’ll go over real big, Honey. I’m just glad the Lord didn’t use that method when we needed the gift of salvation. He sent us the real thing, wrapped in baby skin. Now that was a true In Honor gift.”

18 comments:

  1. LOVE this, Jen!!! I will have to see if my husband likes the idea too! ;-)

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  2. I think I might have done that in a silly way. I bought myself a book to honor Jesus' birth.

    Is that how this works? Boy, I sure hope so. ;)
    ~ Wendy

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  3. Jeanette my husband would love this idea! A little too much!

    I may stretch it a bit and add my own rules... This could work!

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  4. Seriously, The Gideons have a program where you can buy Bibles and donate in someone's honor or memory. We often do this instead of a gift or flowers when someone passes. The recipient ususally loves the thought of their loved one being honored by the Word of God.

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  5. That's funny!

    Really, in our family we don't 'need' anything and I'd much rather eat a nice dinner and visit with each other as my gift.

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  6. Brilliant! :) And I love your sass. So fun!

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  7. You are so funny! I do like the idea of giving to someone in need as a gift. One Christmas I told my family that I wanted to donate the money they would have spent on me to a single mother struggling with going to college, working and she had lupus. It was such a great feeling to meet her and give her the money. Then several years later, my grandfather was in the hospital and needed to have respiratory therapy for pneumonia. This woman had finished college and she walked into granddaddy's room to give him his respiratory therapy. What are the chances?? It was so good to know that she really did follow through with her dream.

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  8. I love this, Jen! And I like your line, "if he folded his answer in half he couldn't have fit it in". Your posts always make me smile :)

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  9. I'd be a house if I used your method. It's fun to celebrate every small thing in life. I've done a lot re-gifting this year for kids gifts. Makes me feel like the toy has been re-born to a new set of wide-eyed wonderment. :O)

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  10. I can't wait to meet you! You're hilarious!

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  11. Jeanette, may your great stories NEVER end!

    I'm seeing a WHOLE SERIES OF DEVOS like the one I had the honor to read.

    Folks, this woman's writing scales mountains!!!

    Blessings,
    Patti

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  12. Hi Jen -

    LOL! I can imagine how this would go over if I tried it on my family.

    I think it would work better if the gift went to a third party. World Vision has a program where you can donate money for animals to help families around the globe.

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

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  13. Ha! That's awesome! I think people would doubletake reading your cards! HAHAHA!

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  14. I might try that too! teehee....My problem is the gifts for me, might get out of hand and I wouldn't save any money! :)

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  15. Awww! I love that. And baby skin is just the best, isn't it? (I'm still praying, you're on my prayer list!)

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  16. This is too fun. Somehow I don't think my family would appreciate it either.

    We have given to charities on behalf of someone special, though. That seems to go over well, but still costs us.

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  17. Awwwww! Jen, melt the heart!

    Merry Christmas ~
    TTFN ~ Marydon
    Follow/read us on new blog ~
    blushingrosetoo.blogspot.com.

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  18. Jeanette:
    You might have something here. But it could take the fun out of friendship.

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