The Gift You Give God This Christmas

As you check off your list, the most important present might be the gift you give God this Christmas. What will it be? Will you say yes to all He’s created you to be? Today I’m sharing about my favorite Christmas memory and how it shaped the way I use my gifts. I hope it blesses you.

The Gift You Give God

I have a favorite Christmas memory. I was in the sixth grade, and I received a cassette tape player that could record. After spending time at my grandparents that afternoon, my mom, step-dad, brother and myself sat around our dining room table and told stories into that recorder. It was special because it was one of the few times I remembered the four of us interacting in such a playful manner. I also loved the story-creating aspect. I loved making up stories in my mind, and now there was a way to record them!

That Christmas, I received a glimpse into who God made me to be: a storyteller.

The Gift You Give God

Psalm 139:13-14 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well,” (NIV).

It took me years to realize that I wasn’t born a clean slate. Instead, God created me with unique gifts and talents. It took me even longer to realize that I have the ability to give a gift to God at Christmas … and every day. How? By developing those gifts. By not hiding them. And by stepping out in faith to develop the talents God has placed deep inside me…

Read more of my favorite Christmas memory on TheBetterMom.com

The Gift You Give God

I love giving gifts and each time I share my books it’s as if the gift God has given me keeps on giving. I’ve dedicated myself to writing the stories God has given me and in turn, I’ve seen Him use my obedience to change hearts and minds, and lives. And even though I know my words bless others, I feel as if I’m the one who is blessed the most–God allows me to see Him in action. What a gift!

This year I received another gift from Him in a most interesting way…I’ve always wanted to have a bookstore, but never dreamed it’d come about in this way. As conferences were canceled one-by-one I found myself looking at tubs and tubs of books. Normally, these books would fill my tables at conferences. Now they filled up half of our garage. At first, it was a dilemma. But God quickly moved me to action. I decided to open a bookstore–from my breakfast nook!

My entire family jumped in to help and after adding bookshelves, we filled them with all the books. Tricia’s Bookstore was born. Now, every day I wake up and see my decades of work and watch as my whole family helps pack and ship orders. It’s been such a blessing. Not only is it wonderful for my kids to learn management, sales, and other retail skills (homeschool lessons!), I get to offer amazing sales to readers in a year when I know we all need it. Blessing upon blessing.

Here’s my daughter packing an order to ship. She’s my “store manager.”