Dec 12
Finding Your Gift Under the Christmas Tree
by Kathryn Hoppe-McQueen

Finding a gift under the Christmas tree is an exciting part of the Christmas season. Every year we receive gifts from friends and family, fellow church members and co-workers, but God also gives everyone a unique gift. There is no range or limit to the gifts that God gives. Finding this gift may not always be obvious or easily apparent. These gifts can be revealed to us in different or unusual ways. We must remain vigilant because we will find our gift in unexpected places.

I found my gift at a presentation of First Baptist’s Living Christmas Tree. In 1995, minister of music Harry Wooten hired a harpist from Nashville to play for the Living Christmas Tree. The theme of the Tree that year was “The Holly and The Ivy” and featured a solo harp and flute. Carol McClure, a prominent harpist in the Southeast, accompanied the choir and performed her own solo arrangements. I was currently in the fifth grade and had wanted to play the harp since the age of three, but my family had struggled with finding a teacher. I came to one of the Tree rehearsals and was introduced to Carol McClure. We set up our first lesson that weekend in her room at the Radisson Hotel. My family drove me to Nashville most every Tuesday night after that for the next seven years to study with Carol McClure until I graduated from high school.

Our responsibility does not end with finding our gift; everyone needs to accept the gift God has ordained for them and be willing to use their gift to give back. Carol McClure returned in 1997 to play with the First Baptist Orchestra at the Christmas Presentation held in the Fellowship Hall that year. This time, I played alongside my teacher, and I have played the harp at every performance of the Living Christmas Tree since.

During this season of gifts, it is important to remember our own gift to give back to God. Our gift, service, or activity may not be the same, but they each come from the Lord. What gift will you put under the Christmas Tree this year?

Praise God with the lute and harp! - Psalm 150

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 1 Corinthians 12:4