All I Want For Christmas Is YOU! – The Gift Of Mentoring
So what would you like for Christmas? Ask Alexa (yes an Amazon Echo was on my list) and I’m sure she’d tell you that this is the number one question asked during this annual season of gift giving. Everyone wants to pick out that perfect Christmas present for the ones they love. I get it!
And yet — and not to go all Ebenezer Scrooge on you, presents tend to be things — clothes, electronics, toys and such, that come and go. And next year some other fad or fashion will get top billing to only replace last year’s Christmas wish list.
And so here’s a thought, what if we framed our gift giving in terms of “presence” and not merely “presents”. What if you gave someone the gift of YOU?
In November of 1994, song writer Mariah Carrey wrote and released the song All I Want For Christmas Is You. It immediately became a chart topper and now almost 25 years later it has been canonized as a Christmas classic. The lyrics are…
“I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there’s just one thing I need, I don’t care about the presents, underneath the Christmas tree, I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know, Make my wish come true, — All I want for Christmas, Is YOU!”
And that’s why I love the mentors of Loving Community that serve and volunteer in
our schools, offering the gift of “presence” to boys and girls who benefit all year round from the “presence” of a loving and caring adult. It’s a beautiful thing to see!
And similarly at the heart of Christmas is the story of Jesus, Immanuel (God with us) offering his “presence” to all. I am grateful in this season for the gift of mentors who carry on in the Spirit of Jesus — All I want for Christmas is YOU!
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ~Matthew 1:23 NIV
Merry Christmas!
Jim
