“What do you want for Christmas?” I’m sure you have already asked/been asked this question many times in the last couple weeks. And if you’re like me, as the years add up, it gets harder and harder to answer. Television commercials, online banners, and sales mailers all show the neat must-haves this holiday season. And I’ll admit, most of it is pretty cool. I mean, a robot that cleans your floors on its own. Who wouldn’t want that? My desires have changed drastically since I was a kid. I no longer ask for a pony or jetpack. So, what do I really want this year? What is on my grown-up Christmas list?

The column titled “presents that fit under the tree” is very short. I have few material things I need. But after listening to Christmas music the past few days, the “presents that can’t be wrapped” column has grown. The inspiration for this is the song “My Grown Up Christmas List” covered by Kelly Clarkson. There are so few things that I need, that the world needs instead.

The song starts by saying that even though I am no longer a kid, I can still dream and wish for things for Christmas.

So, here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

I encourage you, as you write your Christmas list this year, to think about some of the gifts you would like to see for others: kindness, friendship, peace, love, health. You never know what you might end up getting. There are all kinds of gifts that can’t be wrapped in bows and set under the tree. Our greatest gift, after all, was wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.