This will be my 71st Christmas.  In that time I have been given a lot of Christmas presents.

• Some I loved
• Some I pretended to like but really did not
• Some were expensive
• Some were not so expensive
• Some were store-bought
• Some were homemade
• Some shown that the giver had really put a lot of time and love into the gift
• Some looked like the giver had just grabbed something off the shelf at the last-minute

But every year as I reflect on Christmas past there is one gift that stands out to me.  It was the best Christmas gift I ever received.

It is also the first Christmas I remember.  I was five years old and I believed in Santa Claus.  There were two gifts I was hoping he would bring me:  a doll and a toy stove with some dishes.

Although I never felt our family was poor…