The unexpected gift! | Day 11 | Dec 8

Some friends recently purchased a puppy, they and the family love it to bits, and it has become the centre of family life.

They bought it well before Christmas, to give themselves and the children time to bond with the little thing, and to ensure it won’t get forgotten about at Christmas. It sounds to me like a great idea. We wish all people with puppies and pets every joy as they embrace the young animals into their lives.

I remember, as a child, how a cardboard box used to arrive each Christmas with greasy marks on the outside making it feel a bit ‘iffy’ and not something to be opened with bare hands!!

It was a very kind gift of a chicken wrapped in greaseproof paper, and sent to the ‘rector’ as a token of love. I have no idea whether the chicken was ever cooked and eaten, but it was never knowingly despised by my grateful parents.

I hope that whatever you receive this year, if you have gift giving people in your life, that you value it as much gratitude as that greasy cardboard chicken box received in our house.