Electric Blankets vs. Cabbage Patch Dolls

After I finished sharing the story of the $5 bill and the tin foil, I could not resist sharing another story about a disappointing Christmas gift. Don't worry, my friend, I think you will find this one rather amusing.

I couldn't swear to how old I was when this happened. It seems like I was 11 years old. I was probably too old to still be interested in dolls, but I was caught up in the Cabbage Patch Doll frenzy. Thus, we arrive at Christmas.

I had been asking for a Cabbage Patch doll for what seemed like forever. I'm certain it felt like forever to my parents. You know how it is - the repeated request for a specific toy, grating on your nerves until you are ready to drop the kid off at Grandma's until Valentine's day just to escape the repetition.

We were past believing in Santa Claus, so the gifts showed up under the tree fairly early in the season. We always put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving, so there was a lot of time to wonder about what was in those brightly wrapped packages. We weren't allowed to touch or move them, but that never slowed the speculation about the contents based on shape and size.

It just so happened that two packages approximately the size of a Cabbage Patch Doll box appeared under our tree a week or two before Christmas. My sister (who is a mere 22 months younger than I) joined me in the rampant conjecture regarding the contents of those suspiciously sized packages. By the time Christmas morning had arrived we had come to the conclusion that those boxes contained our brand new babies, adopted by us with real certificates and all. The only things we weren't sure of were the eye and hair color.

We bolted to the tree on Christmas morning. Mom and Dad kept pushing aside the two packages of interest. They were to be opened last, which only cemented our earlier hypothesis. We tore through the other gifts while our anticipation ate at us like a cancer. Finally, the moment of truth had arrived. One package was placed in front of my sister and the other in front of me. We tore into them like we were parched in a desert and those carefully wrapped gifts contained the water that would keep us alive.

My first clue that something was amiss was the fact that the gift was not hard like a box - it was soft and squishy. I continued to tear the paper, ignoring my misgivings. After completely unwrapping my long-awaited gift, I found not the doll I had dreamed of for weeks. Instead, there was an electric blanket. Yes, you read that right. The gift my parents were so proud of as to save it for last was an electric heating blanket.

Now, let me give you a little background after the fact. We lived in a trailer, which held heat like a bucket full of holes holds water. Our room was all windows on one side. We were constantly piling more covers on our beds to stay warm (even in Southeast Texas, which is not known for its cold temperatures). That is to say, we needed those blankets.

I was extremely disappointed (to put it mildly) when I opened that blanket. I thought it had to be the cruelest joke ever played on a kid. I think I made a good faith effort to hide my disappointment, but I'm sure I did a poor job of it. I feel ashamed now for my reaction. We did get our dolls, but it happened 6 or 8 months later on our birthdays.

OK, now that you've had a good laugh at my expense - or the expense of my 11 year-old self - I'll explain the reason for my posting this. Yes, there is a reason.

I learned a lesson from that morning. As the temperatures dropped that January and February, I realized that I really needed that electric blanket. While I would have enjoyed cuddling that doll, she certainly wouldn't have kept me warm in 20 or 30 degree weather. Sometimes, we receive gifts that we need rather than what we want.

It's really that way with our Father too. So often I think I know what I need and want. Then I open up what He has prepared only to find exactly the opposite. At the time, I often struggle to reconcile the two. However, hindsight is 20/20. Usually, I discover not too far in the future that He had given me the exact tools that I needed to deal with a situation that I never could have anticipated.

So, this Christmas, when you open up those tube socks from Grandma for the 7th year in a row, remember, you may not think they are such a great gift until you open your drawer 2 months later to find that moths have eaten all of your other socks. Then Grandma's gift will be looking pretty good!

Blessings!