I Believe in You Gift

A holiday tradition our family has enjoyed for years is waking up on Christmas morning and with all in pj’s, opening the small thoughtful gifts we tucked into each others’ stockings. Sometimes these gifts are more special than spectacular, sometimes they are practical (doesn’t everyone need a pair of toe socks!), and other times they are favorites that we don’t buy for ourselves.

This holiday season, think about the meaning behind your gift. What gift could you give your student this year that would last a lifetime, become an anticipated treasure, have immeasurable impact, and yet cost you nothing? Here’s an idea that you won’t find it in any newspaper ad or on any store shelf.

Create for your student an opportunity to see himself or herself as a world-changer. Influencer. Equipped. Not just one who merely waits for opportunity to arrive, but one who is actively on the look out, watching for it. Help him discover what this looks like. It’s not the bold and blessed that make opportunity, rather taking chances and embracing opportunity makes us bold and blessed. So often we pass it by because we don’t recognize it. Rubbing shoulders with those who have embraced opportunity in an impactful way will help students see how it is the meek, the prepared, and the watchful who are blessed with and by opportunity.

This year, give your student an I Believe In You gift. Create a list of 12 books or movies that you have hand picked and will share with your student – one a month. Keep the list secret except for sharing the first title along with a note explaining that each month a new title will arrive that has been specifically selected for him or her to enjoy.

Books, books on tape, and movies can come from the library – you are committing to selecting it and having it arrive each month. Maybe delivered with a red ribbon around it or with a bag of popcorn or a plate of cookies beside it, perhaps tucked inside is an inspirational bookmark, a Bible verse, or a handwritten note of why you chose that particular book.

Need help with ideas for your list? Some my son enjoyed when he was 12-14 years old:
Movies: 127 Hours, October Sky, Gifted Hands
Books: The Little Britches series by Ralph Moody (my personal favorite)
Ranger’s Apprentice – series of 10 starting with The Ruins of Gorlan
Isles of Swords – series of 2
The Brother Band Chronicles
Freckles, and other Gene Stratton-Porter books
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy
The Chronicles of Narnia
YWAM Hero biographies
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Don’t wait for the holiday to begin this tradition. Prepare it as a birthday gift or use it to kick off the new school year. Extend your circle of recipients to include a youth group, boy scout troop, or groups your student is involved with. Parents could share the idea and ask that a grandparent or favorite aunt or uncle be the giver. This post was originally shared in a monthly newsletter December 2014. Many adults have shared how they wish their parent had done this, or they wish they started this idea when their students were young. Don’t wait to tell your students you believe in them!

Category: Vision