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Is this a Christmas present or what?

A great blessing of Christmas is the gifts. Of course, at my age, I’m not too interested in what I get, but what I give.

I can’t think of one thing that I really wanted. I have everything I need, although some may be old and out of date. As long as it works, I’m happy with it.

Therefore, it is not what I am getting that matters to me. I love to see the smile on the faces of the grandchildren when they open a gift. I am so happy how they are opening their gifts because I did not buy it. I paid for it, but it is the job of the kind lady of the parsonage to do all the shopping, buying gifts, wrapping and all that goes with it.

If it were up to me, nothing would be done, which would be sad.

Like I say, I’m not looking for much for Christmas this year, just to enjoy family and celebration.

Then something happened last week that changed that attitude of mine.

In my mailbox this week, I received a letter from the state traffic department. I was a little nervous opening it because I had never received such a letter before. Why were they sending me a letter? What kind of trouble am I in?

When I opened it, I noticed that it was a traffic violation notice. Upon further notice, I saw that it was not for me. Can you guess who this traffic violation was for? Two guesses, and it’s not me.

I don’t really like dancing, but I must admit I did a happy little dance while reading this letter.

Consequently, my wife had a traffic violation and a camera recorded it.

Looking at the photo, she looked nothing like my wife. The entire image was darkened, so nothing could be seen. Oh well it had his name, what else do I need?

Upon entering the house, he was happily whistling and maybe a little dancing.

“What are you so happy about?”

Looking at my wife, I said, “I’m sorry. What did you say?” I heard her, but wanted to hear her repeat it.

“You heard me. What are you so happy about?”

I was going to ask him to repeat it, but I thought otherwise.

Handing him the letter, I told him with the biggest smile on my face I had ever had, “You have a traffic violation.”

There are moments in life to celebrate and as far as I am concerned, this was one of those moments. Very often, if ever, I get one on the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. This was the first time and I didn’t really know how to handle myself. How much happiness is too much happiness?

“This can’t be my ticket,” he said with a very nasty growl.

“I think it is. It has his name and license plate number. Who else is it from?”

He got out to his truck and checked the license plate number. It was not the correct number.

“It’s not the correct license plate number, so it can’t be mine.”

At this point, my happiness peaked. I was not expecting something like this. I was expecting a traffic violation. The total was $ 2.35. It didn’t seem like much, but there it was. I could enjoy this moment for the rest of my life. Oh how sweet life can be, especially at Christmas.

He returned the letter to me and said, “Look, this rape was last week in Miami. I wasn’t in Miami last week. This can’t be correct.”

My happiness was on a downward spiral. I checked the letter several times and found that he was right. She is always right, and here was a new proof. I advised him to take it to the sheriff’s department to see what they thought.

It wasn’t long before he returned and entered the house whistling happily but not dancing.

“What are you so happy about?”

She looked at me with a smile and a Merry Christmas gleam in her eyes and said, “The sheriff’s department told me this was a fraud. It’s not my ticket. They advised me to destroy it and forget it.”

Looking at me smiling, he said, “Aren’t you happy for me?”

All I could do was look back, smile, and say, “Yes, dear.”

Of all the tickets I have received, I was able to enjoy one for my wife.

It wasn’t a very serious problem, but I could have used this a lot. Now it’s gone. Just when you think you have something, it turns out it’s nothing.

I’m glad the ticket was a fraud. I was thinking about what the apostle Paul said. “In any case, with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4: 6).

It is that time of year when we think of all things to be thankful. I’m not sure how many blessings I have because some of the most important are the ones I don’t see. If I rest in God, he will take care of all the blessings I need in life.

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