Reveal Story: They chose … a Whole New Room!
Gift Cards for Take-out? -or- A Whole New Room?
Last year Paulo thanked us for giving his family a whole new room in their house for Christmas.
Say what?
Our gift budget is not quite generous enough to fund an addition to their house!
But Paulo was completely serious.
So, wow! There’s more to that story, right?
Yes! And it is a really sweet story about the joys of Reverse Show and Tell Christmas.
In mid-November 2020, we put our cash gifts into cute little envelopes and mailed them off to everyone on our list.
On Thanksgiving Day, Paulo’s family (2 parents, 1 teen) finished up their turkey dinner and opened their cash gifts. And they decided to combine all of the cash gifts they received for Reverse Show and Tell Christmas and purchase a new television.
But they had a little problem: there was nowhere to *put* the new television.
Several months earlier, they had some water damage in their basement, so they had moved all kinds of things from the basement into the family room. Boxes. Old toys. Woodworking projects and tools. They got their basement cleaned up, but they never got around to sorting through the *stuff* that was *stuffing* their family room. Their family room was definitely not cozy! In fact, it was unusable.
So when they opened their Reverse Show and Tell Christmas gifts on Thanksgiving and decided to pool their gifts to purchase a television, they *also* decided to tackle the *stuff* in their family room to make a place for the new television.
Newly motivated, they got to work on this project, which had been languishing for months. We’ve all been there, right? Most of us have a project that we just walk past day after day, either ignoring the mess or feeling bad about the mess.
The motivation paid off. By the time Christmas rolled around a few weeks later, they had completely cleared out the stuff stored in the family room and rearranged the furniture. Cozy couches were once again cozy! Then they brought in the television and started gathering as a family to watch their favorite shows: Star Trek, Cobra Kai, and sports.
The television was a great gift.
But the *real* gift was the space they reclaimed, the family time they gained, and the freedom they obtained by completing a project that had been hanging over their heads for months. The joy and excitement that Paulo and his family felt absolutely sparkled through the phone lines when they called to reveal their gift choice on Christmas day.
The year before, we gave them gift cards to their favorite take-out place.
Were they grateful? Sure!
But gift cards for take-out don’t really have the same impact as a new room and family togetherness!
The joy Paulo’s family felt was just…beyond! They chose something that had a transformative impact on their family. They were creative and intentional, and the gift they chose was so, so meaningful. This is one of my favorite Reverse Show and Tell Christmas reveal stories!
I cannot wait to hear about the gifts people choose this year! They will be unique and surprising and wonderful!