A few weeks ago, it really hit me how much I am missing my mom during Christmas.

 I was ordering Brooks the Dino World Magna-Tiles, and I realized it was the exact gift I would have told Mom to get for him. Not only would she have ordered the set with gusto, but she would have also thrown in the Jungle Animals and Arctic Animals sets as well. Come December 26, we’d be living in a magnetic wonderland of biomes from around the world.

See, my mom’s love language was 100 percent gift giving.

I’m serious—if she took the actual test, I guarantee you she’d score 100 points in gift giving and zeroes in physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, and quality time.

It’s not that she never showed those other qualities, it’s just that she really loved giving gifts, and that outweighed everything else.

Her gift-giving strength meant that Mom was the perfect person to be in charge of buying Jackson a special present when Reeves was born. She wanted to get Jackson something that would both keep him entertained while I took care of Reeves and make him feel like attention was still on him too.

I had just the gift in mind: the Fisher Price Little People Garage. This toy is a classic, largely because of its simplicity. It’s been around since the ‘70s and provides hours of entertainment without taking up much real estate in your house. In fact, its size makes it perfect to carry from room to room, and it would have even been easy to take to Rock Hill for overnight visits at the Shadowbrook China Museum, otherwise known as Queenie’s house.

Lucky for me, Mom seemed on board with this gift idea, so when she called me at the hospital Saturday afternoon to check in on Reeves and me and then asked me to send Alex home so he could “assemble Jackson’s racetrack,” I was a little nervous.

“Umm, Mom, what do you mean ‘assemble’?”

“I thought you were getting the little Fisher Price garage?”

“Mom?”

Crickets.

“About that . . . I may have gone a different route.”

Uh-oh, I knew what that meant. It meant she had found something she considered bigger and better and more appropriate for her angel grandson.

I thought my prior experience had prepared me for what was to come. Boy, was I wrong.

When I walked into my house Sunday afternoon with my brand new baby, I came face to face with the monstrosity that is the VTech Go!Go! Smart Wheels Ultimate Amazement Park Playset.

How can I describe this “amazing” park?

It . . . Was . . . Huge.

It took up pretty much all of the floor space on my living room carpet, and, y’all, the thing was taller than Jackson.

I was immediately confused. You see, this gift was proudly purchased by the same woman who, years earlier, took the Barbie Dream House my grandmother bought me as a Christmas surprise and donated it to the Salvation Army. I didn’t even have the chance to see it, much less send the elevator to the third floor. As Mom confessed years later, she didn’t want that thing “junking up her den.”

Apparently, the rules change when you become the grandmother yourself.

Honestly, it wasn’t the size that really made my blood boil, it was more the flashing lights, the sirens, the revving engines, and the “70+ sing along songs, sounds, and phrases” that could be activated at certain spots on the track.

If that doesn’t sound like something every sleep-deprived new mom would want smack dab in the middle of her living room, I don’t know what does.

Bigger doesn’t always mean better, Queenie.

Just ask the Jewish people waiting on the Messiah 2,000 years ago.

Everyone expected something big, an arrival with bells and whistles, with pomp and circumstance. Maybe there would be trumpets, fanfare, and a parade fit for a king. Or, maybe there would be drums, banners, and a powerful warrior leading a massive army.

But that’s not how Jesus came. It’s not even close.

Jesus came quietly, born in a lowly stable, a manger and hay for a bed, a lone star signaling his location.

Jesus’ arrival wasn’t flashy or fancy, and yet, it’s the greatest gift we’ve ever been given.

As we prepare to open presents this weekend, let’s take a minute to be silent, to be still, and to be thankful that the best things come in small packages.

God showed his love for us by sending his only son into the world that we might live through him (I John 4:9).

The best gift isn’t underneath the tree. It came over 2,000 years ago so that we may have life and have it to the fullest (John 10:10).

That’s a gift we can carry and share all year long.

Merry Christmas!