“Take the scissors and open the blades this much. Then push against the wrapping paper.” The shears quickly cut the paper.

That was my mom teaching me how to wrap a present. Whether it was socks, a boxed tie, a belt or some unusually shaped toy for a brother or sister. (Last night I showed my grandson, Jacob, some of the same techniques.) Gift wrapping was about the most fun of the season after the tree was up and in place.

Both my mom and my dad taught us the value of doing something well when it came to Christmas presents. Wrapping presents often took hours. Scissors, tape, ribbon and paper. They taught us how to curl ribbons and make beautiful bows. How to hide the cute ends and square packages.

The wrapped packages were pieces of art.

We would make little cards of scraps of wrapping paper. Little rhymes would be used to “suggest” what was inside. (Don’t worry about the weather,for this is better than leather.)

People were devoted to the process of making something better. Expressing oodles of love and care. Blessing one another.

My folks would go to stores where many of them would gift wrap as a service. Beautiful boxes, colorful papers and artsy bows, couple with a gorgeous card. (You had the sizzle and the steak and there was atmosphere too!)

There were no bags. Few gift cards. As a matter fact, the only thing a bag was used for was to get packages from one place to another.

I know it is Christmas and the thoughts are in your mind.

It would be a good Christmas story.

But as I pondered it a few days ago, I thought about our devotion to Christ. Often in our walk with Jesus people fizzle out, get bored, becoming less enthusiastic. (Still saved, just not having fun.)

It is not a criticism but more of an observation. Why does this happen? Because often we forget two things. One is, He is the source of life. Two is, we get allow ourselves to get caught up in other things. We tend to forget “customer service”. We skip the devotion.  We miss the special things we once did.

Now, we look to give God “gift cards” and “presents” tossed in a bag.

Something needs to change.

Whether it is cooking or wrapping presents if it is not bringing you joy, it is not the project, chore or task, but most likely it is the times missed out on.

But, I am so busy!!!

You can choose to be offended, feel guilty or shout “stop”, but busyness coupled with no joy is often the signpost of you forgot something.

In Him, you can find joy doing dishes. Too many are forgetting the simple fact that He is life. In Him we have life. Through Him we have life.

Dolly Parton — “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

I encourage you to recollect the things that brought you joy. Maybe Christmas is your jump start.

The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things.

Thomas S. Monson