Leslie Galvan

Hi, my name is Leslie Galvan. I’ve been attending BCF Church for 15 years. I have been married to my husband, Aaron, for 9 years. I am currently the Celebrate Recovery Ministry assistant. I love to cook, create new recipes, sing, podcast, write and in recent years, CrossFit. I have a food blog, and my husband and I also have a podcast.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17 (New International Version)

 All good things are from God- it’s the one thing that we can always count on because God does NOT change.

Sometimes during the holidays, unforeseen circumstances occur: Maybe you lose your job, maybe a longtime relationship ends, maybe you find out you’re sick, or maybe your finances start to fall apart.
    About five years ago, as Christmas closely approached, my husband and I realized we weren’t going to have money to buy gifts for our loved ones. It wasn’t a big deal to him because he’s the “logical” one in our family, and his thoughts were, “If we don’t have money to give gifts, it’s going to be ok.” However, I am a gift giver. I absolutely love to buy presents for people on their birthday, for their wedding, for their baby, just because, and most definitely at Christmastime. Knowing that we would not have money to buy gifts really put a damper on my mood, and it started to show the closer we got to Christmas. 
    One evening when my husband got home from work, I was in a particularly frustrated mood and he looked at me and he said, “You need to stop. You are ruining what Christmas is all about. Christmas isn’t about buying people gifts. It’s about the gift that God gave us, Jesus.” 
    That evening changed my perspective of gift giving. It was such a wonderful reminder of what God did for us by sending His son Jesus to Earth to give us the ultimate gift. The holidays often bring a sense of “need to do everything for everyone” feeling. I still love to give gifts, but I’ve also learned that it’s not the most important part of Christmas. 
We didn’t have the money to buy gifts, but I still had some resources to make gifts because God had provided for us, just not in the way I had expected. I was able to bake loaves of bread, make cookies and even had a box of Christmas cards from the year before that I was able to give. They were good gifts, perfect gifts for the season we were in. Life circumstances may change but God doesn’t, and he always finds a way to provide what you need to get things done. 

1. What in your life is getting in the way of what a “real” Christmas is all about?  
2. What are some of the good gifts God has given you?