Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

Ignore the Wrapping

December 23, 2009  

IMG_2152It is standard knowledge that men cannot wrap a present, and I am proof of that. I can cover them with paper, yes. I can disguise their true identities. Which in essence means I can wrap a present well enough to guarantee their intended purpose—to surprise. And the recipients of my gifts usually are surprised. They just can’t show it well because they’re so tired from getting through all the paper and tape.

It isn’t for lack of trying, either. I’ve been wrapping Christmas gifts for almost thirty years. Not too shabby. But even with all that experience, this one fact cannot be overlooked—I really, really suck at it. Just look at the picture.

My wife refuses to allow me the pleasure of wrapping our children’s presents (“Elves would not wrap like that,” she says). She also seems a bit perturbed that I use more wrapping paper and tape or her five presents than she uses for the rest of the family combined.

The kids, too, are unimpressed. It’s fascinating that even at their young age they can discern what is beautiful and what is not. Last year was my son’s turn to hand out the presents. He took one look at the packaging job on my gift to him and said, “What’d I do that was so bad, Daddy?”

But I persist. I refuse to bow to the notion that the better option would be to have the friendly retirees down at the mall wrap them for me. Or, even worse, to shove them all into gift bags. Not my style. Besides, the wrapping doesn’t really mean much. It’s what’s under the packaging that counts.

I was sitting in the middle of my office floor yesterday and thinking along those lines. Three of the five presents that fell under my purview had been wrapped (using two rolls of paper and one roll of tape—I’m getting better, at least in that regard) and the fourth was proceeding nicely. Harry Connick, Jr. was crooning about what he prays for on Christmas, the neighborhood was encased in nearly three feet of snow, and I decided in that moment that while my life was not perfect, it was certainly good enough to warrant a smile and some reflection.

That’s what this time of year lends itself to. Reflection. And yesterday, I was reflecting about God’s wrapping paper.

Though this may sound a bit sacrilegious, God is much like Santa. He sees me when I’m sleeping and knows when I’m awake. Knows if I’ve been bad or good, too. And He gives me gifts. Many of them.

As I folded and cut and taped (and taped some more), I realized that some of the gifts God had given to me came wrapped flawlessly. I could look at the package and tell it was something good.

But there were others He gave that looked much like what I will put under the tree for my wife, lumpy and ugly and barely hanging together. And I’ll admit that my reaction to those gifts was much like my son’s last year—What’d I do that was so bad?

God would never answer that question, choosing instead to nod and smile and tell me to just open it. “Trust Me,” He’d say. “You’ll see.”

I didn’t always trust. But I still always saw.

Those gifts disguised in ugly wrapping were often not as good as the ones in pretty paper, they were better. Like the time He gave me a gift draped with a job loss which, once unwrapped, became one of the best presents I’ve ever gotten. Or the gift He offered of over forty rejections from agents and publishers. That was a lot of paper and tape to get through, but beneath was not only the perfect agent, but the perfect publisher as well.

It’s tough to say that everything God gives us is a gift. Tough, but maybe true. He’s given me things that I’m still haven’t found the blessing and joy in, but I’m still looking. Sometimes we just have to keep unwrapping to get there. But it’s there.

“Trust Me,” He says. “You’ll see.”

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print this article!
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

Filed under: Uncategorized
Tagged:

Comments

  • Katdish

    So very true, Billy. Sometimes the most beautiful gifts are wrapped up in what appears to be a mess.

    But seriously…stick to writing. I don’t think you could fall back on being a professional gift wrapper. Dang.

  • http://www.sarahsalter.com Sarah Salter

    Don’t feel bad, Billy. My Dad uses that clear packing tape that’s about 2.5 inches wide. And he uses A LOT of it. Our Christmas morning includes a lot of allusions to one of Gibbs’ favorite rules: ALWAYS carry a pocketknife!

    Good message, Billy. Thanks for sharing it!

  • http://www.randommusings-helen.blogspot.com Helen
  • http://www.areyouthere-god.com Missy

    At least you use wrapping paper. I have family members that are known to use newspaper and garbage bags. Good thing it really is about what is on the inside.

  • http://joyce-fromthissideofthepond.blogspot.com Joyce

    We all joke that my father in law uses glue on his packages…you usually want to say something naughty by the time you manage to tear it open.

    I liked the analogy…sometimes there is beauty and goodness underneath what appears to be just ugly and painful on the surface

    Merry Chrismtas…hope you are all dug out now…my daughter was in DC trying to get home on a train the day of the storm. She managed but it wasn’t easy and it was scary!

  • http://forevrenevernalways1.blogspot.com Jill

    Amen Billy – God gives the best gifts all of the time! He gives us the best every time! Even when it doesn’t look like it and certainly doesn’t feel like it at the time. But He knows what He is doing and knows what we need perfectly! His love surpasses anything we can ever understand!

    I praise God He is NOTHING like Santa and that whether or not we are good – His love doesn’t stop and He keeps giving us the best gifts. I am glad it is not on my behavior and obedience that He continues blessing me. I am beyond grateful it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with His love and His Son who paid the price for my life! His life for mine – how can I ever repay Him?

    Blessings and Merry Christmas!
    Jill

  • http://www.steeletheday.com Candy

    My kids always look at the gift and say “Dad did the wrapping again this year, didn’t he?” More tape than paper.

    Your gift was indeed inside the wrapper. In truth, most of us have wrappings that are either a mess or a deception of beauty. It’s what’s inside is what matters.

  • http://hisfirefly.blogspot.com HisFireFly

    “I didn’t always trust. But I always saw.”

    Thanks for sharing such a simple truth so honestly.

  • http://rmabry.com Richard Mabry

    Billy, Thanks for sharing a beautiful thought that I’ll try to remember long after the presents have been unwrapped this year. Blessings.

  • http://www.pridelandsmommy.blogspot.com *~Michelle~*

    *giggling at Katdish’s comment*

    Man…once again…..perfect timing for me. I am in the middle of receiving another gift, with a pretty bad wrapping job. In fact….there is so much dang tape that I am having a hard time getting it open to see the beauty in the ashes. But I continue to trust……that The Giver knows exactly what I need…even when I don’t.

  • http://www.pridelandsmommy.blogspot.com *~Michelle~*

    Oh, and Merry Christmas, Billy!

  • http://makeadiff21.com Ginny (MAD21)

    Great post, Billy. I love it.

  • http://aspiretoleadaquietlife.blogspot.com A Simple Country Girl

    Wow. Real wrapping paper and clear tape? Bits of duct tape and brown paper bags over here.

    You are right, sometimes we just have to keep unwrapping… Even if we don’t like the brown tattered paper or lack of shiny ribbons, He holds the gift in His outstretched hand.

    Blessings.

  • http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com Maureen

    My husband’s family uses form and duct tape (one is an artist). Have you ever received a duct-taped gift? By the time you get through to the gift, you need to take a nap.

    He wrapped me
    a gift
    left sleeping
    in straw
    in a manger
    far from home
    the miracle was
    the gift He lef
    that I never knew
    to hope for

  • http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com Maureen

    Unintelligible typo. I meant to write, foam (as in packaging material) and duct tape.

  • http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.billycoffey.com/2009/12/ignore-the-wrapping/ uberVU – social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by sarahmsalter: RT @katdish: If @billycoffey wrote like he wraps presents, y’all would all be saying “who’s billy coffey?” http://bit.ly/4J6wGt #justsaying…

  • http://roxanesalonen.blogspot.com Roxane B. Salonen

    Billy, you definitely have a gift. One of the gifts you offered me today was the “40 rejections” bit. Thanks for reminding us that all we can do is put one foot in front of the other and keep walking. The rest is up to God. I have to share this. When I looked under the tree yesterday, I noticed two “new” packages that hadn’t been there before. They were boxes, unwrapped, just brown with some Scotch tape to keep them closed. We had a little family gift-opening last night and my 7-year-old presented my husband and I with those two unwrapped gifts. I received the most precious gift: my son’s favorite Teddy bear. It has a heart stitched onto its chest. He told me he gave it to me because of that heart, because he loves me. I don’t think any other gift this Christmas is going to top this one. I even slept with it last night (it’s really soft) and realized that in the future, when my son is no longer accessible for daily hugs, I’ll be able to hug that bear. It will be bittersweet, but I will never forget this Christmas and the gift from the heart he gave me. Thanks for letting me share — sorry it got long. Merry Christmas! I look forward to reading your book, Billy. Love the cover!

  • http://experiencingraceandpeace.blogspot.com Chris

    Amen, Billy. I haven’t figured out what the writer intends when he says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you undergo trials of many kinds…”

    It’s the poorly wrapped gift James is talking about. In the midst of the struggle it makes little sense, or would appear that the gift sucks, but on the other side it can be the most beautiful thing.

    You wrote that you are “still looking” – I believe that to be the key. As this Christmas is upon us, I pray that all of the people I know who are really struggling through wrapping paper and tape up the waaa-zooo may keep looking to the Giver of the most amazing gift!

  • http://lexiconluvr.blogspot.com L.T. Elliot

    Stop making me bawl, Billy. (But don’t. Don’t ever stop writing the beautiful things you do. You’re amazing.)

    Thank you. I’ll unwrap my gifts, beautiful or ugly, and thank God all the same.

  • http://joannesher.blogspot.com Joanne Sher

    An incredibly powerful truth, expressed in true “Billy fashion.” Yes. Been there. Am there, to an extent. But I KNOW “it” is a gift.

  • Caroline

    The last two paragraphs spoke directly to me and gave me hope especially when tied with the last sentence. Thank you Billy, I really needed that. A very Merry Christmas to you and your family.

  • http://building-his-body.blogspot.com/ Anne Lang Bundy

    I never thought about it, but now that you describe it all this, I suppose the Lord likewise likes using many layers to wrap His gifts. Is He testing us to see if we trust Him and keep looking for the pleasant surprise? Thanks for the message, Billy.

  • http://myexperienceasyouthpastor.blogspot.com Nick the Geek

    Hey, I gots mad wrapping skilz. I can make ribbon curlz and everything. I’m cool with this cuz my man card is safe on many other fronts.

  • http://conniearnold.blogspot.com/ Connie Arnold

    That’s a good comparison and a wonderful way to look at what happens to us, as gifts from God. It’s such a lovely and encouraging thought to think of the special gift God has for us under the ugly wrappings of life’s difficulties!

  • http://trainstutusandtwizzlers.wordpress.com Corinne

    This was beautifully wrapped, Billy. Thank you.
    On a funny note, as soon as I learned how to wrap presents, my dad enlisted me as his elf. For years I wrapped the gifts he gave my mother… I miss that little tradition now that he’s down in FL and we aren’t able to spend Christmas together. Thanks for the reminder!

  • http://susan-moment.blogspot.com/ S. Etole

    I’m not always sure He did the wrapping … but I know He can make gift out of the whole bungled mess.

  • http://thereluctanthomefront.blogspot.com Rebecca

    He took one look at the packaging job on my gift to him and said, “What’d I do that was so bad, Daddy?”

    Thanks for the laugh, Billy, that was priceless.