Favorite Gift Given, Received, Or Both

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Welcome to the masculine journey. We are glad to have you with us this day, and we are talking about the Christmas season. I mean, obviously it's December, so we're going to talk about the Christmas season. And we started last week with the topic that I found out partly through the show was mine.

It was my topic last week, and I don't remember what it was. What was the topic last week, Robby? Preparing your heart for Christmas. Oh, somewhere we don't have somebody turned on.

Let's try that one. Preparing your heart for Christmas or preparing your mic for Christmas. For the radio show, yeah. Last week was preparing your heart for Christmas, and this week, Robby, it's your topic.

I am calling it corrected this week. Yes. It is. We were thinking about, you know, what a great time, as a lot of people are getting presents if they haven't already gotten them, to talk about what was your favorite present to either get or to give. And so, you know, maybe through what we share, you get some ideas as you're out there thinking about what you might put on your list slash what you might get someone else. So, you know, and pretty neat. It brought back a lot of memories as I processed this week and thought about a clip to get, et cetera. Yeah. It's been good to kind of go through that, and it's hard to think back through all the different gifts, not just that you've given but also that you've received.

And try to, how do you quantify or qualify favorite? You know, that makes it kind of tough. And so I guess since I'm running the board, I'll play my clip first. Wow. Recurring theme here. Yeah, it is. You know, and we'll get to David's clip a little bit later. Shocker.

Oh, that's right. Maybe next week. Maybe next week. We're still working on that one.

Yeah, when you have one. So anyway, I told you I wasn't going to say it on the show, but I wasn't. He lied. I wasn't honest there. That's okay. At the time, I thought I might not, but it changed. Anyway, onto my clip.

He rhymes with pants on fire over there. We do. This is from the Big Bang Theory, and in this particular clip, they're getting ready for a scavenger hunt. And so it has nothing to do with Christmas, the clip itself, but we're going to listen to it, and we're going to come back and I'll talk about it. But they're preparing to go on a scavenger hunt together. It's all this. Oh, everything I could possibly need to win the scavenger hunt. You really think he's going to send us to a bowling alley?

Well, if he does, do you know how filthy those rental balls are? Okay, everybody. Who's ready for a scavenger hunt? Somewhere in the city of Pasadena, I've hidden a golden coin. You will be faced with a total of ten puzzles. Each puzzle will lead you to the location of the next, the last of which will lead you to the coin. The first team that finds it, wins.

He's a born showman. Any questions? Okay, guys, go ahead and divide yourselves into teams of two. Should we just do couples? Couples sounds great, or we could mix things up, maybe pick names out of a hat, whatever.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why don't you just admit you don't want to be on a team with me? I just said couples sound great. Yeah, you don't think I'm smart enough.

You think I'm going to be a liability, even though I totally just used the word liability correctly in a sentence. Let's do couples. I want to. No, no, no, let's mix things up.

I choose Shell. Really? The only time I've ever picked first for a team, and I'm stuck with the liability? Stop that. Penny's not a liability.

Thank you. Do you want to be on my team? Maybe we pick names out of a hat? So what does that have to do with Christmas?

You might say absolutely nothing, and for you it might not. But for me, it has a lot to do with Christmas, especially these days. It all started several years ago when I had something special for Heidi when we were married for Christmas, and I didn't want her to have it under the tree. She had a bad habit of shaking presents and trying to figure out where things were, and so I hid this present and a couple other ones around the house, and so in order to have her find them on the day of Christmas, I did a scavenger hunt. And so that's how that particular thing began, and it was out of a desire to have her not try to figure out what was there, because I got her something kind of nice, and I knew she would try to figure it out by the size of a box and all that kind of stuff.

And so after that Christmas, one of the boys, it was Caleb at the time, said, you know, I want you to do that for me sometime. I really would love to have a scavenger hunt. He wasn't wanting the particular gift.

That wasn't what it was. It was a scavenger hunt. Well, we did them once in a great while, but about seven years ago when I went through my divorce, you know, we had some traditions we had as a family before the divorce. And so initially in that first Christmas that we didn't celebrate together, we had half the Christmas stuff.

You know, we had all that kind of thing, and so we couldn't really do our traditional Santa tree upstairs and family tree downstairs and all that kind of stuff, and it's too cheap to go buy another tree. And so it was like, all right, let's start some new traditions. And so I put some presents around the house and then some clues.

You know, and so the only thing that was on the tree was an envelope for the boys, and that was our first Christmas, just them and I together. And so they just loved it. You know, it was probably three or four presents, and give them clues to go try to find it. You know, and they loved the scavenger hunt.

And so my daughter out in Vegas, you know, they told her about it, and so she wanted to start calling in in the morning, and I would carry the iPad around, and she'd watch the boys do a scavenger hunt, you know. And so it's just been something that's been every year, and regardless of how old they get, they still love that. I mean, they like the presents, and I try to think of the right presents to get them, but they love the scavenger hunt more than anything. You know, and I think it's, one, trying to figure out the clues, but I also think it's something to be that there's preparation that goes into it, and I think that's part of what makes it special for them. It's not just thrown together, because, you know, you have a house that you've been in for a while, and they know the house really well.

It's kind of hard to hide things, you know, and write clues to where they can have to challenge them a little bit. And so it's been fun, and they try to figure it out together. And so that, for me, is a whole scavenger hunt thing, and that's probably one of the better gifts, just holistically, I've given, is just this tradition that we've been doing. That's really cool.

Thanks. My dad did that for my mom one time, got her a fur coat or something, and I can remember making that impression. I never did do that.

I probably should have. But I did do it for my wife for her birthday one time, and those things do make an impact, because, like you say, they can tell that there's some thought that went into it, but there's that surprise, too, and usually you've got to mix it up. I don't know how you did it, but the one present, you'd get a present, and then it would lead to another clue for the next one.

Yeah, so that's pretty cool, and it does, it jazzes things up a bit. As smart as my boys are, and they're pretty smart, they haven't figured out that the next clue is always, if this one was upstairs, the next one's always downstairs. For seven years now, it's been upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs. And so unless they're listening to this, they're not going to figure it out probably again this year, that that's the pattern. Caleb listens, though, doesn't he? Yeah, he may get it, or they may have kind of wised up to it, but yeah, they're just like, where to next?

And they get to go around the block or something. Yeah, and so sometimes I'll do it to where they have shared clues, and then they separate and have their own clues. Sometimes it's always shared, and so it's just kind of fun to do it that way.

And looking forward to, I'll start writing the clues probably this next week. I'll start thinking about them and looking around the house, going, what haven't I used before? Where can I put stuff?

There was a day and an age I could put stuff in a clothes hamper because they didn't know what that was. Just saying. Anyway, Robby, you got something to add? Well, I guess I was thinking about that really I couldn't narrow it down to just one, like, my favorite gift that was ever given to me. And so I actually have three. But to set that up, I have a movie clip from a movie called A Borrowed Christmas, which is a Christian movie which admittedly isn't of high quality as far as the acting, et cetera, but the setup is brilliant. And so essentially this guy wants to rent a Christmas, and so here's how this plays out. I would like to rent a Christmas. All of your signs, all over the store, they say, we rent anything. So why not a Christmas?

Why not? What kind of Christmas would you like? Well, there needs to be five children. Five children. Five children.

The oldest two, a girl and a boy, are just coming home for the holidays. Home for the holidays. And a wife. A wife.

Okay. A wife. So you are not married.

No, I'm not married. Okay, so we have a beautifully decorated tree, Christmas presents, two carols, the works, a wife, five children. And I think that should do it. Although I would like to make one other request. I want this to look like a Norman Rockwell Christmas. I do. The whole nine yards, just like it was in the early 20th century. This isn't going to be cheap.

Then why don't I write a check? Yeah, so to start off with, just my favorite gift we ever gave started out like that. We, as a family, we're going to go Christmas Eve, Calvary Baptist Church used to do this thing where we'd go deliver gifts to the families in need, we thought. And so we went and picked up all this stuff that we were supposed to take to this house. And so we pull up in the driveway and there's a Lexus, and I'm not kidding you. And we're like, man, we're just not feeling this.

We're just not feeling it. So we're going to get to the rest of that story. Yeah, sorry about that, Robby.

Oh, no, no, it's okay. We'll get to the rest of it. Everybody wants that Norman Rockwell feeling. And so maybe we can get a little bit of that when we come back. We've got an entrenchment coming up.

Nothing like a good teaser though, come on. Entrenchment, January 28th and 29th, and a boot camp coming up March 30th through April 2nd. What we have at our boot camp is something that makes you stronger and gives you the strength to go on your regular walk with God.

It's something that will make you be bigger than you were when you got there. I've been coming regularly and it's just such a blessing. When you guys invited me, I was at the worst time of my Christian walk. I was going through some things. The first time I came, I don't know if you remember, I couldn't even walk.

I couldn't even stand up straight. And I'm walking now. I ain't running around a lake yet, but you know. The greatest things is just being around a group of men that love the Lord and sharing His kindness and His love. All of you guys, I done sat and talked with all of you guys, different occasions, different conversations, and it's all been unique and refreshing. You guys gave me a whole different perspective in life, and you can't hide the true, genuine love of God. You can't hide it.

Register today at masculinejourney.org. That was only 30 seconds. I know it may have felt longer, but that was classic. David, do you have any idea who that was? I know I told you before the show. Yeah, but I already forgot who that was. Yeah, that's what I thought. He's an actor, right?

He was an actor, and he was with Bob Hope and a lot of stuff. Does that help you at all? No. Okay, okay. Harold, I'm sure you probably know who that was, don't you?

If we put the mic over towards you. I even remember Norman Rockwell. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, but that would be Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. Yeah. Yeah. And so, Robby, if you want to go ahead and finish with what you were doing.

Yeah. So, you know, when we left our heroes on the Norman Rockwell Christmas, you know, we had, you know, gone to deliver these, you know, packages to a family that clearly had more than we did. And so, you know, we weren't feeling it, and it's, you know, we could just all like, man, we were coming back to the car, and my wife said, you know, I have this lady in our Bible study who really is a needy family, and, you know, why don't we go over there and see what we might just could do for them, right?

And I think I know where she lives because she dropped her off one time from Bible study, and it was in a trailer park. And so, we went over, and when we got there, literally, the whole family was outside warming themselves by a trash can full of wood, you know, because their power had been shut off for Christmas, right? And so, we quickly assessed the situation, realized that, oh my goodness, not only, I mean, they had no food for Christmas, they had no heat for Christmas, they had no nothing. And so, immediately, it was like my kids were, you know, 10, 11, 12, they leaped into action, like, we got to go get them, we got to go to the grocery store, we got to get their heat turned on, you know, and they were just like, man, they would give up anything, including their own presents, to make sure that this family had a Christmas. And it wasn't a borrowed Christmas, but it was a Norman Rockwell Christmas, you know, one that, you know, you just never ever forget that, you know, God really allowed us, you know, we went looking for a needy family, I guess, and boy, you know, it turned out that we were the ones that were needy. In a way, we needed something to feel like, you know, that she really had given something at Christmas, right? And so, but I thought about the other side of this equation, what's your favorite gift that you ever got, right? And I have some that are on the list, like I got a mirror from my granddaughter last year, it said the face of wisdom. I mean, I have it in my office, it's one of those classic presents of all time.

That's one of my favorites. One day, one year, my dad sent me some money to buy a bow, but what was huge about that particular gift that I got from my dad, in the bottom of it, he said he was proud of me on the card, and it was something I'd never heard from him. And what that meant to me was way more than the money or the bow or anything else, I've never forgotten that gift. But actually, when I think about the gift that keeps on giving, right, the one that meant more to me than any gift that I ever received, and it wasn't quite a Christmas present, you might think this is a shameless plug, but it's absolutely true. It was my first boot camp, it was given to me by Darren and Sam, and it literally changed everything. I mean, I can't even imagine what my life would be like had that not been given to me. And I know it came from God to whatever extent, but literally the band of brothers that I have, that I walk with, my worldview, my healing from sexual addictions and all sorts of different things that have come in great, big, huge packages came as a result of what Jesus did through this essential relationship. And so, like, man, it was the gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving and giving. And maybe somebody listening will think, you know, I need to keep that from my husband or my dad or whatever, you know, because I'm telling you, if they'll come in with a heart open for where God wants to take them, because it's God that does it at boot camps, it's not us, it'll change everything.

Yeah, thank you, Robby. And this last boot camp was just amazing. They're all great, you know, but this last one was just amazing, just the work God was doing in people's lives and the opposition we faced. In boot camp, through boot camp, you know, the enemy was not happy with what was going on, but we know that there's been a lot of freedom from it. And we've also had people that was at the boot camp that are coming to the entrenchment, which is great.

They're signed up and coming to the entrenchment January 28th and 29th. Well, isn't it what we learn in boot camp and the larger story about the Christmas Day is really like Saving Private Ryan, the D-Day beach, you know, where Jesus came into the earth to set men free. So, you know, there is some parallel there to Christmas, right? Yeah.

That's a good point. Thank you, Andy. Well, you have a microphone. Would you like to share your big bang theory? Sure, I can.

Yeah, I can do that. So Sam inspired me for big bang theory. You heard Penny and Leonard and Sheldon on there earlier. So Penny and Leonard are boyfriend and girlfriend and Sheldon is Leonard's roommate. And so Sheldon has been preparing to get a gift for Penny for whatever she gives him.

He has all these options. He bought like 30 gift baskets from Bath and Body and he's going to try to equate to whatever she gives him when he gives it. But listen to the clip as they walk through it. Also at the end, after he gets done giving her or actually she gives him and he responds, what he's doing is actually heaping all the gifts back on her and then he gives her a hug. But anyway, he's not very affectionate, him giving that hug with something.

I'm trying to give you enough because some of this clip is visual, trying to give you enough to kind of experience it. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Oh, good, Penny. You're here to exchange gifts.

You'll be pleased to know I'm prepared for whatever you have to offer. Okay, here. Oh, a napkin.

Turn it over. To Sheldon, live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy. He came into the restaurant. Sorry, the napkin's dirty.

He wiped his mouth with it. I possess the DNA of Leonard. Yeah, yeah, I guess, but look, he signed it.

Do you realize what this means? All I need is a healthy ovum and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy. Okay, all I'm giving you is the napkin, Sheldon.

Be right back. Sheldon, what did you do? I know. It's not enough, is it?

Here. Leonard, look, Sheldon's hugging me. So sometimes we can make gift giving pretty transactional, you know, when you're trying to equate whatever you give with that other person. And, you know, I guess sometimes we fall into that. But, you know, it's to be able to just give like God and just give extravagantly and not, you know.

Most of the time I don't think we have any problem with giving more than what we're giving back. But, you know, I don't think we're trying to step it down and just get enough like Sheldon was. He wanted to make it equal.

And then obviously she outdid him. But that's the way God is. He gives us the Leonard Nimoy napkin with the DNA on it, right?

And we're not expecting that. But just me, I don't know. One of the best gifts I gave, and I was thinking about this. And, you know, this is tough because I don't remember Christmases probably as much as I should, you know, just over the time. But there was a time my mom had went through a divorce, me and I had lived out on my own. And then just because of the way things were, I moved back in with her and we had an apartment. Well, after that divorce, she lost like the VCR.

And that was something important. She taped a lot of stuff and all. And I got her a VCR one time and pretty nice one.

Had it sitting on top of the TV. She came home from work and had a bow on it and she walked around and didn't notice it for some time. And it really meant a lot to her at that particular time.

And so that was a good one. What I've received, I know my wife was always a much better gift giver than I was. But she did some stuff where she gave, she would take and she did a really good job of doing like scrapbooking stuff and took family pictures and gave it to me. So those meant a lot. But, you know, there's times during the holiday season when you do things like what Robby was talking about where you give to other families and stuff like that. And those are the things that do matter, you know, more so. But, you know, I think you just can't out give God during the season just to remember that, you know, this is the amazing gift that we got in Jesus and in our relationship with him. So we should all be givers during this time for sure. Yeah. And I want to challenge you a little bit on not being a good gift giver because I have a couple of things.

One on the mantle at my house, which is a little jar of sand, a little bottle of sand from D-Day Beach that you brought back from Normandy. And then I also have on my desk a cross made out of olive wood that you brought back from Israel. Right.

And well thought out. Well, they mean a lot. I didn't just stick them in a drawer. Yeah, but they weren't for Christmas.

Well, you know, every day is Christmas. Exactly. No, I think God has worked with me on that. But it is, it's not the big thing like I used to, but those were things more tangible and tied to a memory or an event. So, yeah, thank you.

Yeah, no, I think that God's at least fathering you in it. We'll give you that. We'll go with that one. He's helping you grow.

That's right. We have a lot more stories, but we're going to run out of time here on them. So I'll go ahead and share one thing real quick and we'll kind of go from there. I didn't share my favorite gift that I received. And so my favorite gift over the years actually is something that I don't necessarily like. It's nutcrackers. I don't like nutcrackers at all. I've never really cared for nutcrackers. I have no idea why a nutcracker is even part of Christmas.

Just they annoy me. And so my family knew that. And so they started giving me nutcrackers. And so when you go in my house and you walk in the front door and you look up on the stairwell, you'll see a parade of nutcrackers protecting the home that they've given to me over the years. And they continue to give them to me. And it's become my favorite thing because every time I get them out, I think of the years that they've done that and how much they've thought about it when they went to give them to me. And so that's been pretty cool.

And just know that you're thought of throughout the year, which is cool for your family. Go to masculinejourney.org. Register for the upcoming boot camp. Sign up for the entrenchment. Entrenchment is January 28th and 29th. This is the Truth Network.